ham

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) The region back of the knee joint; the popliteal space; the hock.
2. (countable) A thigh and/or buttock of a hog slaughtered for meat; (occasionally) the corresponding cut from some other animal.
3. (uncountable) Meat from the thigh and/or buttock of a hog cured for food.
4. (countable, uncountable) The back of the thigh of humans or certain other animals.
5. (Internet, countable, informal, uncommon, uncountable) Electronic mail that is wanted; email that is not spam or junk mail.

Verb

To overact; to act with exaggerated emotions.

Opposite of

spam, junk mail

Synonyms

gammon

pork

overact

ham actor

ham it up

jambon

overplay

hock

thigh

hough

play

rump

underact

underplay

amateur radio operator

back of the knee

dark meat

ground round

top of the thigh

proximal segment

popliteal space

hamfatter

swine’s flesh

panini

amateur

boarp

bacon

🥓

buttock

emote

femur

haunch

knuckle

leg of mutton

leg of veal

lowbrow

Translations

jambon

prosciutto

jamón

Schinken

ham

presunto

pernil

hesp

jambon

χοιρομέρι

ζαμπόν

pernil

radioamatore

cambajon

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhæm/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: hamme

Inherited from Old English: hamm

Cognate with Dutch: ham

Cognate with German: Hamme

Cognate with Swedish: ham

Cognate with Icelandic: höm

Cognate with Old Irish: cnáim

Cognate with Ancient Greek: κνήμη

In summary

Inherited from Middle English hamme, from Old English hamm (“inner or hind part of the knee, ham”), from Proto-West Germanic *hammu, 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 and gam.