ham
Pluralhams (some meanings)
Pluralhams (some meanings)
- 1Meat from the upper back leg of a pig, usually salted or smoked; also, a whole leg cut for this.
She diced the leftover ham and stirred it into the bean soup.
Thin slices of salty, air-dried ham were laid out on the platter with melon.
UsageFor a portion, say some ham or a slice of ham. A ham may be a whole leg or a smaller prepared piece.
- 2A person who operates a radio station as an amateur rather than as a professional.
A ham in New Zealand answered her call within minutes of the antenna going up.
The club meets on Saturdays so local hams can test new equipment together.
UsageOften used before another noun: ham radio for the hobby, a ham operator.
Note
The radio hobbyist shares the word, and its murky origin, with the overacting performer; among radio operators it began as telegraphers' scornful name for clumsy Morse senders, and amateurs later took it up with pride.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The radio term developed from telegraphers' derogatory name for operators with poor Morse-sending skills. en.wikipedia.org
- Radio amateurs subsequently adopted the formerly derogatory term proudly. arrl.org
- 3To overact, performing with exaggerated displays of emotion.
The villain hammed shamelessly, twirling his mustache and cackling at every chance.
Actors who ham it up in a quiet drama can wreck the mood of a whole scene.
UsageMost often in the set phrase ham it up, said of actors and of anyone showing off for a crowd.
Similaroveract, melodramatize
Note
Chew the scenery is the more colorful equivalent, and the old phrase tear a cat, from Shakespeare's day, once said the same; camp it up is a near relation rather than a match. Whoever does it is a ham.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The phrase 'tear a cat' was used in Shakespeare's day; Bottom uses it in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, Scene 2. en.wikisource.org
- 'Tear a cat' formerly meant to overact. en.wiktionary.org
- 4A performer who overacts or seems amateurish, especially an actor with a showy, exaggerated style.
Critics dismissed the lead as a ham who shouted every line and wept on cue.
Some of the great hams of the silent era built whole careers on rolling eyes and clutched hearts.
Note
An actor's insult of uncertain origin: it first appears in print around the 1880s, and one theory derives it from amateur. It can even be a compliment. Writing in The New Yorker in 2005, James Wood called Cormac McCarthy "one of the great hams of American prose," admiring a histrionic style rather than mocking it.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- The theatrical sense has an uncertain origin and first appeared in print around the 1880s. en.wiktionary.org
- One proposed derivation is from amateur. en.wiktionary.org
- James Wood wrote about McCarthy in The New Yorker in 2005. archivesspace.library.txstate.edu
- Wood called McCarthy one of the great hams of American prose. newyorker.com
Less common meanings
- 5Someone, often a child, who adores being noticed and puts on silly antics for anyone watching or for a camera.
Our youngest is a total ham who starts dancing the moment anyone pulls out a phone.
The class hams all crowded into the front row of the school picture, pulling faces.
UsageUsually fond teasing, often in a total ham or a bit of a ham.
Similarshow-off
Note
Like the actor's sense, it describes someone who plays to whoever is watching, but away from the theater the sting mostly fades.
- 6The back of the thigh, or the hollow behind the knee, in people and animals.
The greyhound's hams bunched with muscle as it burst out of the starting box.
The old shepherd sat back on his hams beside the fire to warm his hands.
- 7Obsolete form of home: the place where a person lives, or the town or country they come from.
Note
Old English hām and Middle English ham sit behind this spelling, and modern home grew from the same word. It surfaces only in old texts, carrying home's familiar senses of a dwelling, a birthplace or a place of rest. It is unrelated to the cured meat, which comes from a different word that happens to share the spelling.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts
- The spelling derives from Old English hām through Middle English ham. en.wiktionary.org
- Modern home derives from the same Old English word. en.wiktionary.org
- The historical word could mean a dwelling. en.wiktionary.org
- Home can denote a birthplace. en.wiktionary.org
- The historical word could denote accommodation or rest. en.wiktionary.org
- The meat word has a separate origin in Old English hamm, meaning the inner knee. en.wiktionary.org
- 8Wanted email, as distinct from spam or other junk mail.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From Middle English hamme, from Old English hamm (“inner or back part of the knee, ham”), from Proto-Germanic *hamō, perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂m (“leg”). It is related to Dutch ham and dialectal German Hamme (“back of the knee”), and perhaps to Old Irish cnáim (“bone”) and Ancient Greek knḗmē (“shinbone”).
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Ham descends from Middle English hamme and Old English hamm, referring to the inner or back of the knee. en.wiktionary.org
- The Proto-Germanic ancestor can be reconstructed as *hamō, an alternative reconstruction of *hammō. en.wiktionary.org
- Ham is related to Dutch ham and dialectal German Hamme, referring to the back of the knee. en.wiktionary.org
From Middle English ham, from Old English hām.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Ham derives from Middle English ham. en.wiktionary.org
Uncertain; the word is generally agreed to have first appeared in print around the 1880s. Theories include that it came from amateur; from Hamlet, whose title role was often overplayed; from minstrel performers using ham fat to remove their heavy makeup; or that it is short for hamfatter (“inferior actor”), said to come from the minstrel song “The Ham-fat Man.”
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts
- The actor sense has an uncertain origin and is generally dated in print to around the 1880s. en.wiktionary.org
- Derivation from amateur is a proposed theory. en.wiktionary.org
- Derivation from Hamlet, associated with exaggerated performances of its title role, is a proposed theory. en.wiktionary.org
- A proposed origin connects the word with performers using ham fat to remove blackface makeup. languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
- Shortening of hamfatter is a proposed origin. en.wiktionary.org
- Hamfatter means an inferior actor. en.wiktionary.org
- Hamfatter has been linked to the minstrel song ‘The Ham-fat Man’. en.wiktionary.org