arch. and dial. Forms: 1 cirm, cyrm, 3 chirm, 6 chirme; 5–6 chyrme, cherme, 6 chearm, charme, 6–7 churme, 7 churmne: cf. also CHARM sb.2 [Immediately connected with CHIRM v.].
1. Noise, din, chatter, vocal noise (in later times esp. of birds).
a. 800. Corpus Gloss., 925. Fragor, suoeg, cirm.
c. 975. Rushw. Gosp., Matt. xxv. 6. Et middere niht þa cirm geworden wæs.
a. 1000. in Wr.-Wülcker, 205. Clangor, tubarum sonus … dyne, geþun, cyrm.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 305. Theȝ crowe bigrede him … And goþ to him mid heore chirme.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, III. vi. 14. That wnderstandis the … chirme of every birdis voce on fer.
1806. Train, Poetical Reveries, 79 (Jam.). A chirm she heard … out o’ a hole she shot her head.
2. esp. The mingled din or noise of many birds or voices, the ‘hum’ of school children, insects, etc.
1530. Palsgr., 617. What a cherme these byrdes make [jargonnent]!
1547. Brend, Lett., in Tytler, Hist. Scot. (1864), III. 379/1. Words confirmed with a churme [murmur] of those that stood about.
1556. T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtyer (1577), G ij a. Then was there heard … a cherme of loude speaking.
1556. J. Heywood, Spider & F., lv. 1. With this a chirme in mumering there fell: Amongst them [insects] all.
1600. Holland, Livy, VI. 235. Grammer schooles ringing againe with a chirme of schollers.
1622. Bacon, Hen. VII., 186. Hee [Perkin] was conueighed leasurely on Horsebacke … through Cheapeside … with the Churme of a thousand taunts and reproches.
1841. Fraser’s Mag., XXIII. 457. A coming tempest announces itself by the birds subduing their song to a chirm.
† 3. A company or flock (of finches). Obs.
c. 1430. Lydg., Hors, Shepe & G. (1822), 30. A chyrme of fynches, a swarme of bees.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, F vj. A Cherme of Goldefynches.
1688. in R. Holme, Armoury, II. 311/1.
