groom

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To clean and care for an animal's coat by brushing it.

   She grooms the horses every morning.

2. 2
   verb

   To make yourself look neat and tidy.

   He spent ages grooming himself before the interview.

3. 3
   verb

   To prepare and train someone for a future role.

   The manager is grooming her to take over the company.

4. 4
   noun

   A person whose job is to look after horses.

   The groom led the horse back to its stable.

From Middle English grom, grome (“man-child, boy, youth”), of uncertain origin. Apparently related to Middle Dutch grom (“boy”), Old Icelandic grómr, gromr (“man, manservant, boy”), Old French gromme (“manservant”), and also to Middle Dutch grom (“fish guts”), Middle Low German grôm (“fish guts”), from the same Proto-Germanic root. Possibly from Old English *grōm, from Proto-West Germanic *grōm (“swollen belly, stomach tumour, womb-child, fish roe, fish guts”), from Proto-Germanic *grōaną (“to grow”). Alternative etymology describes Middle English grom, grome as an alteration of gome (“man”) w…

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