Beorma

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A fermenting agent, such as the froth or sediment from brewing, used historically to leaven bread dough
2. An old word for the frothy yeast that makes dough rise and that was once skimmed from fermenting ale
3. The leavening substance of Old English times, a foamy residue from brewing used to raise bread

Etymology: Beorma is an Old English word meaning yeast, the froth or sediment that forms on fermenting ale and makes it rise. It survives in modern English mainly in the form "barm," which has been used for yeast since around the Middle Ages and is still found in regional and brewing vocabulary. Its roots lie in Germanic: the same ancestor gave Old High German "barm" and Dutch "berm" with the same sense, so the word was already working in the brewhouse across much of northern Europe long before English speakers wrote it down. The word is also a useful reminder of how brewing spread its vocabulary. Early English ale-makers did not need a separate term for the foam of fermentation, since the word for the froth on the surface of a fermenting liquid was a common, everyday concept in the household. Modern English "barmy," meaning crazy or foolish, is often linked to this word because of the frothy, bubbling image, but that connection is traditionally offered as a likely rather than a proven one, so it is best treated with caution.