barm
noun
- bread roll
- foam that rises in beer while fermenting; yeast
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /bɑːm/ / /bɑɹm/
noun
Etymology: 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.
- Foam rising upon beer or other malt liquors when fermenting, used as leaven in brewing and making bread; yeast.
“[A]nd sometimes make the drink to bear no barm.”
“In 1577 yeast, called barm, is bought at 9d. the pail.”
- A small, round, flat individual loaf or roll of bread.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English bermen, from the noun (see above).
- To spurge; foam