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Beam

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beam¹

  • /ˈbiːm/
  • [ˈbɪi̯m]

Rhymes with -iːm

Where it comes from

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *bagmaz?

Proto-West Germanic *baum

Old English bēam

Middle English bem

English beam

From Middle English bem, beem, from Old English bēam (“tree, cross, gallows, column, pillar, wood, beam, splint, post, stock, rafter, piece of wood”), from Proto-West Germanic *baum, from Proto-Germanic *baumaz (“tree, beam, balk”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to grow, swell”).

Cognate with North Frisian Boom, buum (“tree”), Saterland Frisian Boom (“tree”), West Frisian beam (“tree”), Cimbrian pome, póom, puam (“tree”), Dutch boom (“tree”), German Low German Boom (“tree”), German Baum (“tree”), Luxembourgish Bam (“tree”), Mòcheno pa'm (“tree”), Vilamovian baojm (“tree”), Yiddish בוים (boym, “tree”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish bom (“beam”), Icelandic baðmur (“tree”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌲𐌼𐍃 (bagms, “tree”), Albanian bimë (“a plant”). Doublet of boom.

The original English meaning of beam ("tree") is preserved in some compound words such as quickbeam.

The verb is from Middle English bemen, from Old English bēamian (“to shine, to cast forth rays or beams of light”), from the noun.

noun beams

  1. Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use. And a letter vnto Asaph the keeper of the kings forrest, that he may giue me timber to make beames for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the Citie, and for the house that I shall enter into: And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God vpon
  2. One of the principal horizontal structural members, usually of steel, timber, or concrete, of a building. The brasswork here, how rich it is in beams, / And how, besides, it makes the whole house sound.
  3. One of the transverse members of a ship's frame on which the decks are laid, and acting as part of the support for keeping the sides of the vessel in shape — supported at the sides by knees in wooden ships and by stringers in steel ones; cf. abeam, beam-ends. Capt. King, from Demarara, was invaded by the gale on the evening of the 6th, in lat. 21° 51', and his vessel was thrown on her beam ends. He was forced to cut away her main-mast. Lost a man, who was washed overboard. . . . Capt. Mood, on a voyage from Alexandria (Virginia), to St. Mary's (Georgia),
  4. The maximum width of a vessel (note that a vessel with a beam of 15 foot can also be said to be 15 foot abeam). This ship has more beam than that one.
  5. The direction across a vessel, perpendicular to fore-and-aft. As the vessel passes a landmark, the landmark is said to be abeam. Once the vessel has passed the landmark, it falls abaft the beam, then it gradually falls astern.
  6. The straight part or shank of an anchor.
  7. The crossbar of a mechanical balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended. The doubtful beam long nods from side to side.
  8. In steam engines, a heavy iron lever having an oscillating motion on a central axis, one end of which is connected with the piston rod from which it receives motion, and the other with the crank of the wheel shaft.
  9. The central bar of a plow, to which the handles and colter are secured, and to the end of which are attached the oxen or horses that draw it.
  10. A ray or collection of approximately parallel rays emitted from the sun or other luminous body. a beam of light
  11. informal The principal stem of the antler of a deer, which branches grow out from.
  12. informal One of the long feathers in the wing of a hawk.
  13. literary The pole of a carriage or chariot. Soon after this be subdued the Pisidians who made head against him, and conquered the Phrygians, at whose chief city Gordium (which is said to have been the seat of the ancient Midas) he saw the famous chariot fastened with cords made of the bark of the Cornel-Tree, and was informed that the inhabit
  14. A cylinder of wood, making part of a loom, on which weavers wind the warp before weaving and the cylinder on which the cloth is rolled, as it is woven.
  15. figuratively A ray; a gleam. a beam of hope, or of comfort
  16. A horizontal bar which connects the stems of two or more notes to group them and to indicate metric value.
  17. An elevated rectangular dirt pile used to cheaply build an elevated portion of a railway.
  18. A balance beam.
  19. A gymnastic activity or event using a balance beam.
  20. A broad smile. He could barely remove the beam from his face when he said: "Arsenal is a massive club and you feel the pressure but I try to put in performances.

verb beams · beaming · beamed

  1. ambitransitive To emit beams of light; to shine; to radiate. to beam forth light
  2. figuratively, intransitive To smile broadly or especially cheerfully. to beam with pride
  3. transitive To furnish or supply with beams.
  4. transitive To give the appearance of beams to.
  5. transitive To transmit matter or information via a high-tech wireless mechanism. Beam me up, Scotty; there's no intelligent life down here.
  6. transitive To transmit, especially by direct wireless means such as infrared. To beam a file using the File Transfer Protocol.
  7. transitive To stretch something (for example, an animal hide) on a beam.
  8. transitive To put (something) on a beam.
  9. transitive To connect (musical notes) with a beam, or thick line, in music notation.

Beam²

proper noun

  1. A surname.

BEAM³

proper noun

  1. abbreviation, acronym Acronym of Bogdan's Erlang Abstract Machine.Bogdan's Erlang Abstract Machine Elixir is a functional, dynamic language built on top of Erlang and the Erlang VM (BEAM).

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