Ream
/riːm/noun
A bundle or quantity of paper, usually 500 sheets; also, to make a hole wider with a reamer.
Did you know?The paper sense of *ream* likely entered English through Anglo-French, while the verb *ream* comes from a separate Old English word for widening a hole, so one spelling hides two different histories.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
rēman
“to widen a hole or make an opening larger”
Middle English
ME
reme
“a quantity or bundle of paper”
14th Century
AF
reme
“a bundle of paper sheets”
15th Century
English
ream
“a standard quantity of paper, later fixed at 500 sheets”
Modern English
English
ream
“a bundle of 500 sheets of paper; to enlarge a drilled hole with a reamer”