To warm or make warm; to heat gently.
From Old French 'chaumir' meaning to warm, derived from Latin 'cauma' (heat). The word evolved in Middle English to describe the action of applying gentle heat, particularly in cooking or warming contexts.
This obsolete word survived longest in Scottish English, where it was used to describe warming foods gently by the fireside—a reminder that many verbs for cooking methods have disappeared as our kitchens and methods changed.
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