dram
/dɹæm/noun, verb
dram is spelled D-R-A-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,168th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dram means “Alternative form of drachm (“One sixteenth of an ounce avoirdupois (1.77 g; symbol: ʒ)”)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dram is drams.
How many letters and syllables are in dram?
| Letters | 4: D-R-A-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,168th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is dram?
Dram appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,168th 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).
How do you pronounce dram?
- /dɹæm/
As a noun (“The currency of Armenia, divided into 100 luma”): /dɹæm/, /dɹɑm/.
Dram 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dram.wav, En-us-dram.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dram
- drams plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- dramming participle, present
- drammed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dram mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Alternative form of drachm (“One sixteenth of an ounce avoirdupois (1.77 g; symbol: ʒ)”).
- 2
Alternative form of drachm (“One eighth of an ounce apothecary (3.89 g; symbol: ʒ)”).
- 3
Synonym of dirhem: a former Turkish unit of weight (variously 1.5–3.5 g).
Dram (49·5 grains), 100=chequi, 4=oka (2·8286 ℔); dram (49·5 grains), 180=rotl, 100=kintal or kantar (127·29 ℔).
- 4
obsoleteSynonym of drachma: a former Greek unit of weight (about 4.3 g).
- 5
Any similarly minute quantity, (now particularly) a small amount of strong alcohol or poison.
a dram of brandy
- 6
A cart formerly used to haul coal in coal mines.
- 7
obsoleteSynonym of drachma: a Greek silver coin weighing one drachma; other similar coins.
They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams [i.e., the Persian daric] of gold, and five thousand pound of silver […]
- 8
The currency of Armenia, divided into 100 luma.
noun
- 1
Initialism of dynamic random access memory.
verb
- 1
datedTo drink drams.
- 2
datedTo ply with drams of drink.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dram in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 dram come from?
Inherited from Middle English dragme /dramme, from Old French dragme, from Late Latin dragma, from Latin drachma, from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ, “unit of weight; a handful”). Doublet of drachma, diram, dirham, dirhem, and adarme.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).