groom
/ɡɹum/noun, verb
groom is spelled G-R-O-O-M: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, groom means “A man who is about to marry” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of groom is grooms.
How many letters and syllables are in groom?
| Letters | 5: G-R-O-O-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 4.3 times per million words; the 12,397th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is groom?
Groom appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th 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 groom?
- UK /ɡɹuːm/
- British /ɡɹʉwm/
- US /ɡɹum/
Groom has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-groom.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-groom.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with groom?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as groom from its last stressed vowel (/um/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of groom
- grooms plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- grooming participle, present
- groomed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does groom mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A man who is about to marry.
- 2
A person who looks after horses.
- 3
One of several officers of the English royal household, chiefly in the lord chamberlain's department.
the groom of the chamber; the groom of the stole
- 4
archaicA male servant, or more generally, a common man.
- 5
A brushing or cleaning, as of a dog or horse.
Give the mare a quick groom before you take her out.
verb
- 1
To attend to one's appearance and clothing.
- 2
To care for (horses or other animals) by brushing and cleaning them.
- 3
obsoleteTo care for (horses or other animals) by feeding, currying and tending to them.
- 4
To prepare (someone) for an event
It appears that Broderick's seconds, although cool, brave men, were entirely without experience in arranging a duel, and did not know that a man should be groomed for one as carefully as a horse is groomed for a race.
- 5
To prepare (someone) for election or appointment.
It is of special interest to note the subjects considered as important to those who are being groomed for top administrative posts
- 6
To gain, or attempt to gain, the trust of a child or vulnerable person in order to take advantage of or exploit them, especially sexually (if under the age of consent).
- 7
In agile software development, to review and prioritize the items in the development backlog.
- 8
To prepare (a ski slope) for skiers by packing down the snow.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Groom in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | palefrenier, groom , préparer, bichonner , damer |
| German | Stallknecht, Pferdeknecht, Hengstmann , vorbereiten, ordnen, zurechtmachen |
| Portuguese | cavalariço, estribeiro , aliciar |
| Spanish | almohazador, palafrenero , acicalar , manipular pederastamente , almohazar |
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 groom come from?
1604, short for bridegroom (“husband-to-be”), from Middle English brydgrome, alteration (with intrusive r) of earlier bridegome (“bridegroom”), from Old English brȳdguma (“bridegroom”), from brȳd (“bride”) + guma (“man, hero”). In Middle English, the second element was re-analyzed as or influenced by grom, grome (“attendant”). Guma derives from Proto-Germanic *gumô (“man, person”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰm̥mō; it is cognate to Icelandic gumi (cf. Icelandic brúðgumi) and Norwegian gume and, ultimately, human.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).