Link Centre Dictionary

barm

UK/bɑːm/ US/bɑɹm/ uncommon obsolete

noun

1.

a commercial leavening agent containing yeast cells; used to raise the dough in making bread and for fermenting beer or whiskey

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English berme, berm, from Old English beorma, from Proto-West Germanic *bermō (“yeast; barm”); related to the dialectal Low German Bärm (“yeast”), from Middle Low German barm, berm. The cake sense is possibly a shortened form of barmcake, which would be made with yeast as described in that sense, or possibly it is from the Irish bairín breac, a type of bread.

Phrases

  • Abraham's barm
  • bacon barm
  • chip barm

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.