Wiktionary

ham

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ham"

EnglishEdit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
 
A baked ham (cured thigh of hog)

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English hamme, from Old English hamm (“inner or hind part of the knee, ham”), from Proto-Germanic *hamō, *hammō, *hanmō, from Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂m (“leg”). Cognate with Dutch ham (“ham”), dialectal German Hamme (“hind part of the knee, ham”), dialectal Swedish ham (“the hind part of the knee”), Icelandic höm (“the ham or haunch of a horse”), Old Irish cnáim (“bone”), Ancient Greek κνήμη (knḗmē, “shinbone”). Compare gammon.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ham (countable and uncountable, plural hams)

  2. (anatomy) The region back of the knee joint; the popliteal space; the hock.
  3. (countable) A thigh and buttock of an animal slaughtered for meat.
  4. (uncountable) Meat from the thigh of a hog cured for food.
    a little piece of ham for the cat
    • 2012, Audra Lilly Griffeth, A King's Daughter, →ISBN:
      She put some ham in the beans and cut up some sweet potatoes to boil.
  5. The back of the thigh.
  6. (Internet, informal, uncommon) Electronic mail that is wanted; mail that is not spam or junk mail.
    Synonym: ham e-mail
    Antonym: spam
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2Edit

From Old English hām.

NounEdit

ham (uncountable)

  1. Obsolete form of home.
Usage notesEdit
  • Persists in many old place names, such as Buckingham.

ReferencesEdit

Etymology 3Edit

Uncertain, though it is generally agreed upon that it first appeared in print around the 1880s. At least four theories persist:

  • It came naturally from the word amateur. Deemed likely by Hendrickson (1997), but then the question would be why it took so long to pop up. He rejects the folk etymology of Cockney slang hamateur because it originated in American English.[1]
  • From the play Hamlet, where the title character was often played poorly and/or in an exaggerated manner. Also deemed likely by Hendrickson, though he raises the issue that the term would have likely been around earlier if this were case.
  • From the minstrel's practice of using ham fat to remove heavy black makeup used during performances.[2]
  • Shortened from hamfatter (“inferior actor”), said to derive from the 1863 minstrel show song The Ham-fat Man.[3] William and Mary Morris (1988) argue that it's not known whether the song inspired the term or the term inspired the song, but that they believe the latter is the case.

NounEdit

ham (plural hams)

  1. (acting) An overacting or amateurish performer; an actor with an especially showy or exaggerated style.
    Synonyms: hambone, hamfatter, overactor, tear-cat
  2. (radio) An amateur radio operator.
    Synonym: radio amateur
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

VerbEdit

ham (third-person singular simple present hams, present participle hamming, simple past and past participle hammed)

  1. (acting) To overact; to act with exaggerated emotions.
SynonymsEdit
TranslationsEdit

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ Hendrickson, Robert (1997) The Facts on File encyclopedia of word and phrase origins, New York: Facts on File, →ISBN
  2. ^ Morris, William (1988) Morris dictionary of word and phrase origins, New York: Harper & Row, →ISBN
  3. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “ham”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

AnagramsEdit

AfrikaansEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Dutch ham, from Middle Dutch hamme, from Old Dutch [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *hammō, from Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂m (“leg”).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ham (plural hamme, diminutive hammetjie)

  1. ham (cured pork from the thigh of a swine)

Caribbean HindustaniEdit

EtymologyEdit

Compare Hindi हम (ham, “we”).

PronounEdit

ham

  1. I

ReferencesEdit

  • Beknopt Nederland-Sarnami Woordenboek met Sarnami Hindoestani-Nederlanse Woordenlijst‎[1] (in Dutch), Paramaribo: Instituut voor Taalwetenschap, 2002

CatalanEdit

 
Catalan Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ca

EtymologyEdit

From Latin hamus.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ham m (plural hams)

  1. fishhook

Derived termsEdit

Further readingEdit

CebuanoEdit

EtymologyEdit

From English ham, from Middle English hamme, from Old English hamm (“inner or hind part of the knee, ham”), from Proto-Germanic *hamō, *hammō, *hanmō, from Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂m (“leg”).

NounEdit

ham

  1. ham; meat from the thigh of a hog cured for food

ChamorroEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kami, from Proto-Austronesian *kami. Cognates include Indonesian kami and Tagalog kami.

PronunciationEdit

PronounEdit

ham

  1. we, us (exclusive)

Usage notesEdit

See alsoEdit

Chamorro personal pronouns
hu-type pronouns
singular plural inclusive plural exclusive
1st person hu ta in
2nd person un en
3rd person ha ma
yoʼ-type pronouns
singular plural inclusive plural exclusive
1st person yoʼ hit ham
2nd person hao hamyo
3rd person gueʼ siha
emphatic pronouns
singular plural inclusive plural exclusive
1st person guahu hita hami
2nd person hagu hamyo
3rd person guiya siha

ReferencesEdit

  • Donald M. Topping (1973) Chamorro Reference Grammar‎[2], Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

DanishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Old Norse hamr, Proto-Germanic *hamaz, *hamô.

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈhɑmˀ/, [ˈhɑ̈mˀ]

NounEdit

ham c (singular definite hammen, plural indefinite hamme)

  1. slough, skin
DeclensionEdit
Declension of ham
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative ham hammen hamme hammene
genitive hams hammens hammes hammenes
Derived termsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

Older hannem, from Old Norse hǫnum, the dative of hann (“he”).

PronunciationEdit

PronounEdit

ham

  1. (personal) him: objective of han
See alsoEdit
Danish personal pronouns
Number Person Type Nominative Oblique Possessive
common neuter plural
Singular First – jeg mig min mit mine
Second modern / informal du dig din dit dine
formal De Dem Deres
Third masculine (person) han ham hans
feminine (person) hun hende hendes
common(noun) den dens
neuter(noun) det dets
reflexive – sig sin sit sine
Plural First modern vi os vores
archaic / formal vor vort vore
Second – I jer jeres
Third – de dem deres
reflexive – sig

DutchEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle Dutch hamme, from Old Dutch *hama, from Proto-Germanic *hammō, from Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂m (“leg”).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ham f (plural hammen, diminutive hammetje n)

  1. ham (cured pork from the thigh of a swine)

Derived termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

  • → Papiamentu: ham

Fiji HindiEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Hindi हम (ham, “we, I”).

PronounEdit

ham

  1. I (1st person singular personal pronoun)
    Ham khelegaa!
    I will play!

FyerEdit

EtymologyEdit

Related to Gerka ram (“water”).

NounEdit

ham

  1. water

ReferencesEdit

  • Roger Blench, Ron Comparative Wordlist
  • Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201, →ISBN:
    […] we should carefully distinguish the following Ch. roots from AA *m-ˀ "water" [GT]:
    (1) Ch. *h-m "water" [GT]: WCh. *hama [Stl.]: AS *ham (Gmy. *hām) [GT 2004, 153] = *am [Stl. 1977] = *ham [Dlg.] = *ham [Stl. 1987]: […] Ron *ham [GT]: Fyer & Bks. & DB & Sha ham, Klr. ˀaàm […]
  • Václav Blažek, A Lexicostatistical comparison of Omotic languages, in In Hot Pursuit of Language in Prehistory: Essays in the four fields of anthropology, page 122

GermanEdit

EtymologyEdit

A pronunciation spelling of haben.

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

ham

  1. (colloquial) Contraction of haben
    Wir ham grad gefrühstückt. ― We've just had breakfast.

Usage notesEdit

Usually used in the present or to form the perfect, though it may be seen in the infinitive as well. See also the note at haben.

IrishEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ham m

  1. h-prothesized form of am

LazEdit

PronounEdit

ham

  1. Latin spelling of ჰამ (ham)

Middle EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

Inherited from Old English ham, hamm (“enclosure”), from Proto-West Germanic *hamm, from Proto-Germanic *hammaz.

Alternative formsEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ham (plural hammes)

  1. An enclosed pasture.

ReferencesEdit

Etymology 2Edit

NounEdit

ham (plural hames)

  1. Alternative form of hamme (“back of the knee”)

Etymology 3Edit

PronounEdit

ham

  1. Alternative form of hem (“them”)

Etymology 4Edit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ham (plural hamen or hames)

  1. (Early Middle English, Northern) Alternative form of hom (“home”)

Middle FrenchEdit

NounEdit

ham m (plural hams)

  1. village

MontolEdit

EtymologyEdit

Related to Mwaghavul am (“water”).

NounEdit

hàm

  1. water

ReferencesEdit

  • Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201, →ISBN:
    […] we should carefully distinguish the following Ch. roots from AA *m-ˀ "water" [GT]:
    (1) Ch. *h-m "water" [GT]: WCh. *hama [Stl.]: AS *ham (Gmy. *hām) [GT 2004, 153] = *am [Stl. 1977] = *ham [Dlg.] = *ham [Stl. 1987]: […] Tal hàm [Jng./JI], Mnt. hàm "Wasser" [Jng. 1965, 171], […]

North FrisianEdit

PronounEdit

ham

  1. him third-person singular, masculine, objective
  2. it third-person singular, neuter, objective

Alternative formsEdit

Norwegian BokmålEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Old Norse hann.

PronunciationEdit

PronounEdit

ham

  1. him

See alsoEdit

    Personal pronouns in Bokmål
Number Person Type Nominative Oblique Possessive
feminine masculine neuter plural
Singular First – jeg meg mi min mitt mine
Second – du deg di din ditt dine
Third feminine (person) hun henne hennes
masculine (person) han ham / han hans
feminine (noun) den dens
masculine (noun)
neuter (noun) det dets
reflexive – seg si sin sitt sine
Plural First – vi oss vår vårt våre
Second – dere deres
Third general de dem deres
reflexive – seg si sin sitt sine

Etymology 2Edit

From Old Norse hamr.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ham m (definite singular hammen, indefinite plural hammer, definite plural hammene)

  1. skin or slough (discarded skin of certain animals)
Derived termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

Norwegian NynorskEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old Norse hamr.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ham m (definite singular hamen, indefinite plural hamar, definite plural hamane)

  1. skin or slough (discarded skin of certain animals)

Derived termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

Old EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Proto-West Germanic *haim, from Proto-Germanic *haimaz.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

hām m

  1. home
  2. property, estate, farm
  3. village; community
Usage notesEdit
  • In early Old English, the dative singular was always hām, not the expected form hāme.
DeclensionEdit
Declension of ham (strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative hām hāmas
accusative hām hāmas
genitive hāmes hāma
dative hām, hāme hāmum
Derived termsEdit

AdverbEdit

hām

  1. home, homeward
    hām gān ― to go home
    hām cuman ― to come home
    hām ċierran ― to turn home
    hām bringan ― to bring home

DescendantsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

From Proto-Germanic *hammaz. Cognate with Old Frisian ham, Middle Low German hamme (Low Low German Hamm).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ham m

  1. Alternative form of hamm (“enclosure”)

Etymology 3Edit

From Proto-Germanic *hammō.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ham f

  1. Alternative form of hamm (“inner knee”)

Etymology 4Edit

From Proto-West Germanic *ham, from Proto-Germanic *hamaz (“covering”). Cognate with Old Norse hamr.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ham m

  1. covering
  2. garment, dress, gown; shirt
DeclensionEdit
Declension of ham (strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative ham hamas
accusative ham hamas
genitive hames hama
dative hame hamum
Related termsEdit

Old FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Frankish *haim (“home, village”).

NounEdit

ham m (oblique plural hans, nominative singular hans, nominative plural ham)

  1. village

DescendantsEdit

Old FrisianEdit

 
Ēn hām.

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-West Germanic *haim. Cognates include Old English hām and Old Saxon hēm.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

hām m

  1. home

DescendantsEdit

  • North Frisian: hamm
  • Saterland Frisian: Heem
  • West Frisian: hiem

ReferencesEdit

  • Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 28

Old NorseEdit

NounEdit

ham

  1. accusative/dative singular of hamr

RohingyaEdit

NounEdit

ham

  1. work

Derived termsEdit

RomanianEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

Borrowed from Hungarian hám.

NounEdit

ham n (plural hamuri)

  1. harness
DeclensionEdit
Declension of ham
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) ham hamul (niște) hamuri hamurile
genitive/dative (unui) ham hamului (unor) hamuri hamurilor
vocative hamule hamurilor
Derived termsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

Onomatopoeic.

InterjectionEdit

ham!

  1. woof, the sound a barking dog makes

See alsoEdit

RonEdit

EtymologyEdit

Related to Gerka ram (“water”).

NounEdit

ham

  1. (most dialects, including Mangar, Bokkos, Daffo-Butura, Shagawu) water

SynonymsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • Roger Blench, Ron Comparative Wordlist
  • Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201, →ISBN:
    […] we should carefully distinguish the following Ch. roots from AA *m-ˀ "water" [GT]:
    (1) Ch. *h-m "water" [GT]: WCh. *hama [Stl.]: AS *ham (Gmy. *hām) [GT 2004, 153] = *am [Stl. 1977] = *ham [Dlg.] = *ham [Stl. 1987]: […] Ron *ham [GT]: Fyer & Bks. & DB & Sha ham, Klr. ˀaàm […]

Serbo-CroatianEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

A loan from Hungarian hám.

NounEdit

hȃm m (Cyrillic spelling ха̑м)

  1. harness

ShaEdit

EtymologyEdit

Related to Gerka ram (“water”).

NounEdit

ham

  1. water

ReferencesEdit

TalEdit

EtymologyEdit

Related to Mwaghavul am (“water”).

NounEdit

hàm

  1. water

ReferencesEdit

  • Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201, →ISBN:
    […] we should carefully distinguish the following Ch. roots from AA *m-ˀ "water" [GT]:
    (1) Ch. *h-m "water" [GT]: WCh. *hama [Stl.]: AS *ham (Gmy. *hām) [GT 2004, 153] = *am [Stl. 1977] = *ham [Dlg.] = *ham [Stl. 1987]: […] Tal hàm [Jng./JI], Mnt. hàm "Wasser" [Jng. 1965, 171], […]

TambasEdit

EtymologyEdit

Related to Gerka ram (“water”).

NounEdit

ham

  1. water

ReferencesEdit

TurkishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Persian خام‎ (xâm).

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

ham

  1. raw

VietnameseEdit

EtymologyEdit

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Related to tham? The shift of aspirated stops to /h/ is attested, but only in certain very frequently used words, which I don't think "to be greedy" can be considered one of.”

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

ham • (𫺧, 𫻎)

  1. greedy
    ham chơi
    (disapproving) to be obsessed with fooling around
  2. eager; keen

Derived termsEdit

Derived terms

See alsoEdit

West FrisianEdit

EtymologyEdit

Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hammō. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

NounEdit

ham c (plural hammen, diminutive hamke)

  1. ham

Further readingEdit

  • “ham (II)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

YolaEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English him, from Old English him.

PronounEdit

ham

  1. him
    • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:
      Ich drowe ham.
      I throw him.

Derived termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 36
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