cream

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the best people or things in a group
  2. noun the part of milk containing the butterfat
  3. noun toiletry consisting of any of various substances in the form of a thick liquid that have a soothing and moisturizing effect when applied to the skin

Etymology

From Middle English creime, creme, from Old French creme, cresme, blend of Late Latin chrisma (“ointment”) (from Ancient Greek χρῖσμα (khrîsma, “unguent”)), and Late Latin crāmum (“cream”), from Gaulish *crama (compare Welsh cramen (“scab, skin”), Breton crammen), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krama- (compare Middle Irish screm (“surface, skin”), Dutch schram (“abrasion”), Lithuanian kramas (“scurf”)). Doublet of crema and crème. Displaced native Old English rēam (“cream”) (> modern ream). Figurative sense of "most excellent element or part" appears from 1581. Verb meaning "to beat, thrash, wreck" is 1929, U.S. colloquial. The U.S. standard of identity is from 21 CFR 131.3(a).

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