spam
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
The original sense (canned ham) is a proprietary name registered by Geo. A. Hormel & Co. in U.S., 1937. It is presumed to be a conflation of either "spiced ham" or "shoulder of pork and ham"[1] but was soon extended to other kinds of canned meat. Hormel spells the trademarked name in all upper case.
The use for unsolicited and unwanted email derives from a Monty Python sketch (Flying Circus, Episode 25). In the 1970 sketch, a group of Vikings in a restaurant repeatedly chant the word "spam". The earliest recorded real-life use for this sense occurs around 1993 which finds reference in an email dated March 31, 1993.
The term appears to have been used earlier in a different sense in relation to "Multi-User Dungeons" (MUDs), a kind of multi-user computer gaming environment before widespread use of the Internet, in the 1980s.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
spam (countable and uncountable, plural spams)
- (uncountable, rarely countable, computing, Internet) Unsolicited bulk electronic messages.
- 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist[2], volume 407, number 8837, page 74:
- In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%. That means about $165 billion was spent not on drumming up business, but on annoying people, creating landfill and cluttering spam filters.
- (uncountable, computing, Internet) Any undesired electronic content automatically generated for commercial purposes.
- Long title, Spam Control Act (Cap. 311A, R. Ed. 2008)
- An Act to provide for the control of spam, which is unsolicited commercial communications sent in bulk by electronic mail or by text or multi-media messaging to mobile telephone numbers, and to provide for matters connected therewith.
- Long title, Spam Control Act (Cap. 311A, R. Ed. 2008)
- (slang, Internet) Excessive, often unwanted and repeated online messages.
- (slang, Internet) Ellipsis of spam account.
- A type of tinned meat made mainly from ham.
Hyponyms edit
Meronyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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Verb edit
spam (third-person singular simple present spams, present participle spamming, simple past and past participle spammed)
- (intransitive, computing, Internet) To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages.)
- (transitive, computing, Internet) To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages) to a person or entity.
- (transitive, intransitive, computing, Internet) To send messages repeatedly, often with disruptive effect; to flood.
- (transitive, by extension, computing, video games) To do something rapidly and repeatedly.
- Stop spamming that special attack!
- Spam this button to get a speed boost.
Translations edit
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See also edit
References edit
- ^ “What does the SPAM brand name mean?”, in (please provide the title of the work)[1], accessed 6 July 2013, archived from the original on 2013-10-14
Anagrams edit
Danish edit
Etymology 1 edit
Noun edit
spam (genitive spams)
Etymology 2 edit
See spamme.
Verb edit
spam
- imperative of spamme
Dutch edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Noun edit
spam m (uncountable)
- spam (undesired electronic content)
Etymology 2 edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb edit
spam
- inflection of spammen:
French edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
spam m (plural spams)
Synonyms edit
- (unsolicited email): pourriel, courriel indésirable
Hungarian edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
spam (plural spamek)
Declension edit
Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | spam | spamek |
accusative | spamet | spameket |
dative | spamnek | spameknek |
instrumental | spammel | spamekkel |
causal-final | spamért | spamekért |
translative | spammé | spamekké |
terminative | spamig | spamekig |
essive-formal | spamként | spamekként |
essive-modal | — | — |
inessive | spamben | spamekben |
superessive | spamen | spameken |
adessive | spamnél | spameknél |
illative | spambe | spamekbe |
sublative | spamre | spamekre |
allative | spamhez | spamekhez |
elative | spamből | spamekből |
delative | spamről | spamekről |
ablative | spamtől | spamektől |
non-attributive possessive - singular |
spamé | spameké |
non-attributive possessive - plural |
spaméi | spamekéi |
Possessive forms of spam | ||
---|---|---|
possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
1st person sing. | spamem | spameim |
2nd person sing. | spamed | spameid |
3rd person sing. | spame | spamei |
1st person plural | spamünk | spameink |
2nd person plural | spametek | spameitek |
3rd person plural | spamük | spameik |
Interlingua edit
Noun edit
spam (plural spams)
Italian edit
Etymology edit
Unadapted borrowing from English spam.
Noun edit
spam m (invariable)
Related terms edit
Polish edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
spam m inan
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
Portuguese edit
Etymology edit
Unadapted borrowing from English spam.
Noun edit
spam m (uncountable)
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
spam n (plural spamuri)
Declension edit
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) spam | spamul | (niște) spamuri | spamurile |
genitive/dative | (unui) spam | spamului | (unor) spamuri | spamurilor |
vocative | spamule | spamurilor |
Slovene edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
spȃm m inan
Alternative forms edit
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Unadapted borrowing from English spam.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
spam m (plural spams)
Usage notes edit
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Further reading edit
- “spam”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from English spam. Earliest attested in 1997.
Noun edit
spam n
Declension edit
Declension of spam | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | spam | spammet | spam | spammen |
Genitive | spams | spammets | spams | spammens |
Derived terms edit
References edit
Turkish edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
spam (definite accusative spamı, plural spamlar)
Usage notes edit
As the word starts with two consonants, some Turkish people will have difficulties to spell it correctly. It may be spelled also sıpam.
Declension edit
Inflection | ||
---|---|---|
Nominative | spam | |
Definite accusative | spamı | |
Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | spam | spamlar |
Definite accusative | spamı | spamları |
Dative | spama | spamlara |
Locative | spamda | spamlarda |
Ablative | spamdan | spamlardan |
Genitive | spamın | spamların |
Synonyms edit
Vietnamese edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [spam˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [spam˧˧]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [spam˧˧]
- Phonetic: xpăm
Noun edit
spam