Middle English Dictionary Entry
crǒme n.
Entry Info
| Forms | crǒme n. Also croume, crum(me, cromme. Pl. crǒm(m)es, crǒmbes, croumis, crownes, cremes, & croumen, crumen. |
| Etymology | OE cruma, pl. cruman; also cp. crimen v. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A crumb of bread; also, a small bit of broken bread or other food; crommes and crustes, scraps from the table, the leavings; (b) a small fragment, bit, particle; also fig.; (c) taken crommes, to take (one's) crumbs; ?eat heartily.
Associated quotations
a
- ?a1200(?OE) PDidax.(Hrl 6258b)14/11 : Nim þanne cruman and do on wæter and þa wyrt mid.
- c1175(?OE) Bod.Hom.(Bod 343)68/28 : He forwyrnde ær þa crumen þam earmæn Lazare.
- c1175 Orm.(Jun 1)1475 : Þe rihhte dom iss starrc & harrd..Swa summ itt wære scorrcnedd laf Þatt iss wiþþutenn crummess.
- c1230(?a1200) *Ancr.(Corp-C 402)92b : Children..mahten wið vnbroke bread deien on hunger, ah me is..moni crome [Nero: crume] edfallen.
- c1300 SLeg.MPChr.(LdMisc 108)154-5 : Lazer..bad ȝiue him sum guod Of is croumene..Nolde he ȝiuen him ane croume.
- (c1380) Chaucer CT.SN.(Manly-Rickert)G.60 : Whelpes eten somme of the crommes [vr. cromys].
- (c1384) WBible(1) (Dc 369(2))Mark 7.28 : Litle welpis eten vndir the bord of the crummes [L micis] of children.
- (a1393) Gower CA (Frf 3)6.1121 : He ne wolde unto his liche A Crumme yiven of his bred.
- a1400 Lanfranc (Ashm 1396)68/7 : I..comaundide hem to ȝeue him crummys [Add: crommys] of breed.
- c1400(?a1387) PPl.C (Hnt HM 137)9.289 : Let hem abyde tyl þe bord be drawe, ac bere hem none cromes.
- c1400 Daniel *Herbal (Arun 42)f.4r : And iows þerof [Abrotanus] & croumys of bred & mete of quynces myxt togydere & coct in water, & leyde to, curyth brennynge in þe eyȝen.
- a1425 Roy.17.C.17 Nominale (Roy 17.C.17)658/11 : Hec mica, Anglice crowm.
- (?a1390) Daniel *Herbal (Add 27329)f.68vb : His [Coriander's] ious medled with cromme of pure qwyt qwete bred abateth euery hete.
- ?a1425 *Chauliac(1) (NY 12)28a/a : Be his mete crommez [*Ch.(2): þe cromme; L mice] of brede wasshed with water of barly.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)106 : Crumme [Win: Crume of bred]: Mica.
- a1450 SLeg.Fran.(2) (Bod 779)363 : Croumen of bred þis goodman mengen he gan þer-to.
- c1450 Alph.Tales (Add 25719)223/23 : Sho satt neuer at meatt, bod held hur selfe content with crombys & crustis þat war lefte at þe burd.
- c1475(c1450) Idley Instr.(Cmb Ee.4.37)2.B.2255 : God was so streite for a litell crom Whiche he grucched to yeve vnto the pouere.
- c1500 Lydg.SPuer(2) (Ashm 61)175 : Crombys A-boute þi trencher, luke þat þou leue none.
b
- (a1387) Trev.Higd.(StJ-C H.1)4.399 : Al þis was..so sodeynliche destroyed..þat þerof was nevere i-founde gobet noþer cromme [vr. crome; L minutiae].
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)287a/a : The ampte..beryng crommes and greynes of corn [L micas id est grana farris].
- (a1438) MKempe A (Add 61823)98/23 : Sodeyn sorwe..cawsyd hir to compleyn..desyryng to be refreschyd wyth sum crumme of gostly vndirstondyng.
- c1450 Comp.Hope (Frf 16)19 : I..neuer felte a lytel cromme [Bod: crom] of routhe.
- c1450 Jacob's W.(Sal 103)188/16 : Ȝe schal schouele clene out þe crommys of þe wose of synne.
- 1543(1464) Hardyng Chron.B (Grafton)p.241 : The rentes..In his handes seazed and held..But for his workes & buyldynges held eche crome [vr. crum].
c
- (1474) Paston (Gairdner)5.211 : I toke so my crommys whyls I was wyth yow, that I felyd my sylfe by the weye the God and ye had made me stronger than I wenyd that I had ben.
2.
The soft inner part of a loaf; cruste ne (nor) ~, any part of the bread.
Associated quotations
- ?a1425 *Chauliac(1) (NY 12)25b/b : Recipe medulle panis fermentatus i. crommez of leuen brede [*Ch.(2): þe piþþe of soure brede].
- ?c1425 Arun.Cook.Recipes (Arun 334)441 : Take faire light bred, and pare away the cruste, and stepe the crome in vynegur, and grinde hit.
- ?c1425 *Chauliac(2) (Paris angl.25)41b/b : Plastre with cromes of brede [L medulla panis] dypped in wyne.
- c1450 Burg.Practica (Rwl D.251)232/17 : Take smalache and crummes of sowre-brede.
- c1450 Hrl.Cook.Bk.(2) (Hrl 4016)98 : Kut hit with a knyfe..and kepe þe crust þat þou kuttest, and pike [vr. pile] all þe cremes [vr. cromes] within togidre; and pike hem small with thi knyfe.
- c1450 Med.Bk.(2) (Add 33996)130 : Take crownes of whitsour bred, smal myed on a gratour, & do hit in a skelet.
- c1450 Pilgr.LM (Cmb Ff.5.30)25 : For j entermeted me neuere to make cruste ne cromme, ne neuere bred j sette.
- a1475(?a1430) Lydg.Pilgr.(Vit C.13)3545 : I..Medlede neuere to make bred, Croste nor krome, al my lyve.
- a1500(?a1400) KEdw.& S.(Cmb Ff.5.48)368 : He wold not ete his cromys drye; He louyd nothyng but it were trie.
3.
In cpds.: (a) ~ bolle, a bowl for scraps of food; (b) surnames [these may be derived from the verb crimen].
Associated quotations
a
- c1600(?c1395) PPl.Creed (Trin-C R.3.15)437 : At þe londes ende laye a litell crom-bolle.
b
- (1251) Cart.Ramsey in RS 79.1315 : Cecilia Cromebred.
- (1323) Pat.R.Edw.II374 : William Chesecromme.