Everyday LifeGreek → English
Dram
/dræm/noun
A small unit of weight, and by extension a small measure of spirits.
The Greek roots
δραχμή
drakhmḗ
drachma, a handful
Literally: “as much as a hand grasps”
Follow a root:δραχμή1 word
The story of the word
The drachma was named from δράσσομαι, to grasp: a handful of the iron spits that served as small change before coinage, six to the grip. English took it through Latin and Old French as a weight for apothecaries, an eighth of an ounce, and the whisky sense followed the pharmacy sense out of the shop. The Armenian currency is still the dram, and Greece used the drachma until 2002.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
Same family
drachmadirham
In a sentence
He poured himself a dram and did not offer one to anybody else.