Obs. Also 4 clom. [Of uncertain origin: sense 2 may be related to rare OE. clumian to mutter, murmur.]
1. Silence, quiet.
1340. Ayenb., 266. Yef ye me wylleþ y-here: habbeþ amang you clom and reste.
2. In the following, some take it as ‘a note of silence’: cf. mum! Others suggest that it represents the muttering or murmuring of the Paternoster.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Miller’s T., 452. ‘Now, Pater noster, clum,’ quod Nicholay, And ‘clum,’ quod Jon, and ‘clum,’ quod Alisoun.
1603. Harsnet, Pop. Impost., 34. All must be mum: Clum, quoth the Carpenter, Clum quoth the Carpenters wife, and Clum quoth the Friar.
1616. Bullokar, Clum, a note of silence [so Bailey, 1721–1800].
