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ream

/ɹiːm/noun, verb

ream is a noun meaning “Cream; also, the creamlike froth on ale or other liquor; froth or foam in general” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-E-A-M and has one syllable, and it appears about once in every 4 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of ream is reams.

What does ream mean?

noun

  1. 1

    ScotlandUKCream; also, the creamlike froth on ale or other liquor; froth or foam in general.

  2. 2

    An extremely large quantity of documents, data, or information that supports a claim, investigation, or case.

    The accountants requested reams of financial records.

  3. 3

    An abstract large amount of something.

    I can't go – I still have reams of work left.

verb

  1. 1

    ScotlandUKTo cream; mantle; foam; froth.

  2. 2

    To enlarge (a hole), especially using a reamer; to bore (a hole) wider.

  3. 3

    To remove (material) by reaming.

  4. 4

    To remove burrs and debris from inside (something, such as a freshly bored hole) using a tool.

  5. 5

    To shape or form, especially using a reamer.

  6. 6

    slangvulgarTo sexually penetrate in a rough and painful way.

  7. 7

    slangTo yell at or berate.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce ream?

  • /ɹiːm/

Ream has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-ream.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-ream.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of ream

  • reem
  • raim
  • reams present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • reaming participle, present
  • reamed participle, past
  • rim
  • reme

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is ream?

Ream appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,788th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Words people confuse with ream

Sounds like: rheme (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Ream in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchaléser (to enlarge a hole), rame, rame de papier, ramette (bundle of paper)
Germanreiben, aufbohren (to enlarge a hole), Ries (bundle of paper), entgraten (to remove burrs and debris from a freshly bored…), Menge (abstract large amount)
Spanishescariar (to enlarge a hole), resma (bundle of paper)
Portugueseresma (bundle of paper)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does ream come from?

From Middle English rem, reme, from Old English rēam (“cream”), from Proto-West Germanic *raum, from Proto-Germanic *raumaz (“cream”), from Proto-Indo-European *réwgʰmn̥ (“to sour [milk]”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).