English
grum
Grum comes from Middle English grom ‘a boy’, from Old English grom ‘angry, wrathful’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gramaz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gramaz1‘angry, bearing a grudge’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150grom1‘angry, wrathful’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grom1‘a boy’
- Englishearliest quotation 1836grum1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English grum
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1836, Joanna Baillie, The Stripling: “Look not so grum at me; there is something…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gramazWiktionary, English grum‘angry, bearing a grudge’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150gromWiktionary, English grum‘angry, wrathful’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gromWiktionary, English grum‘a boy’
- Englishearliest quotation 1836grumWiktionary, English grum. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1836, Joanna Baillie, The Stripling: “Look not so grum at me; there is something…”
The story
Probably influenced in form by glum.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- ‘to thunder, rub, tear, scratch’
ground, grim, groin, grunting, pogrom, 4 more
through Middle English grom ‘a boy’
Today it means
adj Morose, stern, surly, sullen.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “grum”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *gramaz / grum