Ham in Scrabble Dictionary

Valid words made from Ham

You can make 6 words from 'ham' in our Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

• 3 letters words from 'ham'
• 2 letters words from 'ham'

3 letters words from 'ham'

HAM 8

2 letters words from 'ham'

AH 5	AM 4
HA 5	HM 7
MA 4

Definitions and meaning of ham

ham

Etymology 1

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) enPR: hăm, IPA^(key): /ˈhæm/
• (Southern England, Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈhæːm/
• Rhymes: -æm

Noun

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.
5. The back of the thigh.
6. (Internet, informal, uncommon) Electronic mail that is wanted; mail that is not spam or junk mail.

   Antonym: spam

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Old English hām.

Noun

ham (uncountable)

1. Obsolete form of home.

Usage notes

• Persists in many old place names, such as Buckingham.

References

• “ham” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2020.

Etymology 3

Of uncertain origin, 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.
• 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.
• Shortened from hamfatter (“inferior actor”), said to derive from the 1863 minstrel show song The Ham-fat Man. 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.

Noun

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 terms

• ham-fisted
• ham radio

Translations

Verb

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.

Synonyms

• chew the scenery, ham it up, melodramatize, overact, tear a cat

References

Anagrams

• HMA, MHA, Mah, mAh, mah

---

Afrikaans

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦɑm/
• Hyphenation: ham

Noun

ham (plural hamme, diminutive hammetjie)

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

---

Caribbean Hindustani

Etymology

Compare Hindi हम (ham, “we”).

Pronoun

ham

1. I

References

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

---

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin hamus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈam/

Noun

ham m (plural hams)

1. fishhook

---

Cebuano

Etymology

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”).

Noun

ham

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

---

Danish

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhɑmˀ]

Noun

ham c (singular definite hammen, plural indefinite hamme)

1. slough, skin

Declension

Derived terms

• dyreham
• fjederham
• fugleham
• hamskifte, hamskifter
• slangeham
• snogeham
• svaneham

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhɑm]

Pronoun

ham

1. (personal) objective of han

See also

---

Dutch

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦɑm/
• Hyphenation: ham
• Rhymes: -ɑm

Noun

ham f (plural hammen, diminutive hammetje n)

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

Derived terms

• beenham
• schouderham

---

Fiji Hindi

Etymology

From Hindi हम (ham, “we, I”).

Pronoun

ham

1. I (1st person singular personal pronoun)

---

Fyer

Etymology

Related to Gerka ram (“water”).

Noun

ham

1. water

References

• Roger Blench, Ron Comparative Wordlist
• Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201:

  […] 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

---

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [haːmˠ], [hamˠ]

Noun

ham m

1. h-prothesized form of am

---

Middle English

Etymology 1

Pronoun

ham

1. Alternative form of hem (“them”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɑːm/

Noun

ham (plural hamen or hames)

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

Etymology 3

Noun

ham (plural hames)

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

Etymology 4

Noun

ham (plural hames)

1. Alternative form of hamme (“pasture”)

---

Middle French

Noun

ham m (plural hams)

1. village

---

Montol

Etymology

Related to Mwaghavul am (“water”).

Noun

hàm

1. water

References

• Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201:

  […] 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 Frisian

Pronoun

ham

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

Alternative forms

• höm (Sylt)

---

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hann.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɑm/

Pronoun

ham

1. him

See also

Etymology 2

From Old Norse hamr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɑːm/

Noun

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

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

Derived terms

• hamlet
• hamskifte

References

• “ham” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “ham_1” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “ham_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

---

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse hamr

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɑːm/

Noun

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

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

Derived terms

• hamlet
• hamskifte

References

• “ham” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

---

Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *haimaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kōim- (“village”), *ḱóymos, *(t)ḱoimos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xɑːm/, [hɑːm]

Noun

hām m

1. home, house

2. property, estate, farm
3. village; community

Usage notes

• In early Old English, the dative singular was always hām, not the expected form hāme.

Declension

Derived terms

• hāmlēas

Descendants

• Middle English: hom
  • English: home
  • Northumbrian: hyem
  • Scots: hame

Adverb

hām

1. home, homeward

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xɑm/, [hɑm]

Noun

ham m

1. Alternative form of hamm (“enclosure”)

Etymology 3

From Proto-Germanic *hammō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xɑm/, [hɑm]

Noun

ham f

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

---

Old French

Etymology

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

Noun

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

1. village

Descendants

• Walloon: hamea, amia, hamia
• Walloon: hamtea, hametê, hamtia, amtia
• ⇒ Old French: hamel
  • Middle French: hamel
    • French: hameau
  • Walloon: hamô
  • → Middle English: hamel
  • ⇒ Old French: hamelet, hamlet
    • Middle French: hamelet
    • → Middle English: hamelet, hamlet
      • English: hamlet

---

Rohingya

Noun

ham

1. work

---

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ham/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Hungarian hám.

Noun

ham n (plural hamuri)

1. harness

Derived terms

• înhăma

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

ham!

1. woof, the sound a barking dog makes

See also

• hau

---

Ron

Etymology

Related to Gerka ram (“water”).

Noun

ham

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

Synonyms

• àyîn (Monguna)

References

• Roger Blench, Ron Comparative Wordlist
• Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201:

  […] 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-Croatian

Alternative forms

• ȃm

Etymology

A loan from Hungarian hám.

Noun

hȃm m (Cyrillic spelling ха̑м)

1. harness

---

Sha

Etymology

Related to Gerka ram (“water”).

Noun

ham

1. water

References

• Roger Blench, Ron Comparative Wordlist

---

Tal

Etymology

Related to Mwaghavul am (“water”).

Noun

hàm

1. water

References

• Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201:

  […] 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], […]

---

Tambas

Etymology

Related to Gerka ram (“water”).

Noun

ham

1. water

References

• Roger Blench, Ron Comparative Wordlist

---

Turkish

Etymology

From Persian خام‎ (xâm).

Adjective

ham (comparative daha ham, superlative en ham)

1. raw

---

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [haːm˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [haːm˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [haːm˧˧]

Adjective

ham • (𫺧, 𫻎)

1. greedy
2. eager; keen

Derived terms

---

West Frisian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

ham c (plural hammen, diminutive hamke)

1. ham

Further reading

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

Source: wiktionary.org

• to overact.
  (source: Collins Scrabble Dictionary)

Live Currency Calculator Click Here!