Cream

How to spell cream

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce cream

What does cream mean?

1. nounThe thick, fatty part of milk, or any smooth substance with a similar consistency.
2. verbTo beat ingredients together until smooth and soft.

Cream in a sentence

• noun

  She stirred a spoonful of cream into her coffee.

• verb

  First cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

• noun

  The pharmacist recommended a soothing cream for the rash.

• verb

  You should cream the softened margarine before adding the eggs.

Where does cream come from?

Language of origin: French

Cream came into English in the early 1300s from Old French cresme, which blended two late Latin words: crama, meaning the thick layer skimmed from milk, and chrisma, the holy anointing oil from Greek khrisma, 'an unguent or salve'. Because both senses involved a rich, smooth substance smeared or skimmed off, the two ideas merged in the medieval French form. The everyday meaning settled on the fatty part that rises to the top of milk, and from there the word spread to lotions, sauces, and the figurative 'cream of the crop', meaning the very best part. The spelling keeps the simple 'ea' vowel that English often uses for a long 'ee' sound, the same pattern seen in 'dream' and 'steam'. The smooth, rich associations of the dairy sense made it a natural choice for the pale yellowish-white colour now called cream.

How the word is built

• cream (from Late Latin crama, a thick substance skimmed from milk)