Wordwyrt

ham

/ˈhæm/HAM
/ˈhæm/HAM

Meaningthe bend behind the knee

Common meaning: preserved meat from a pig's hind leg

Journey through time

  1. Aryan root · reconstructed√KAM‘bend’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 49, p. 732 · scan
  2. Old Englishkamm‘the bend behind the knee’source
  3. Middle Englishmeaning shiftsthe bend behind the knee → the back of the leghamme‘the back of the leg’source
  4. Englishmeaning shiftsthe back of the leg → preserved meat from a pig's hind legham‘preserved meat from a pig's hind leg’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old English kamm ‘the bend behind the knee’.

Roots

  • kamm Old English “the bend behind the knee”

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