Rheum

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ɹuːm/
• Rhymes: -uːm

Origin

From Anglo-Norman roume, reume, Middle French rume, ryeume, and their source, Late Latin rheuma, from Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα ("stream, humour").

Full definition of rheum

Noun

1. (uncountable) Watery or thin discharge of serum or mucus, especially from the eyes or nose, formerly thought to cause disease. from 14th c.
• 1916, James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Macmillan Press Ltd, 102He wore about his shoulders a heavy cloak; his pale face was drawn and his voice broken with rheum.
2. Illness or disease thought to be caused by such secretions; a cold, catarrh; rheumatism. from 14th c.
• 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, II.8:he ... had all his faculties free and easie, onely a rheume excepted that fell into his stomacke.
3. (poetic) Tears. from 16th c.

Hyponyms

• (dried rheum around eyes) crusty slang, gound UK dialectal, sleep, sleepy dust informal

Derived terms

• rheumatic
• rheumatism
• rheumy