spam
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spam¹
- /spæm/ UK
- /spam/ British, Northern England, Scotland
- /spæm/
- [speəm]
- /spæːm/ Australia
- /spɛm/ New Zealand
Rhymes with -æm
Where it comes from
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" 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's Flying Circus sketch. 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 a newsgroup post dated March 31, 1993, but the term may have been in use on "Multi-User Dungeons" (MUDs) in the 1980s.
noun spams · Spam · SPAM
- Unsolicited bulk electronic messages. I get far too much spam.
- Any undesired electronic content automatically generated for commercial purposes. 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.
- Excessive, often unwanted and repeated online messages.
- Ellipsis of spam account
- A large quantity or multitude of anything done repetitively or considered unusually or indiscriminately repetitive.
- A type of tinned meat made mainly from ham.
verb spams · spamming · spammed · Spam · SPAM
- To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages.) Transformed by programming ineptitude into a monster of Frankenstein proportions, it broke loose on the night of March 31, 1993 and proceeded to spam news.admin.policy with something on the order of 200 messages in which it attempted, and failed, to cancel its own messages.
- To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages) to a person or entity.
- To send messages repeatedly, often with disruptive effect; to flood.
- To do something rapidly and repeatedly. Stop spamming that special attack!
SPAM²
proper noun
- Alternative form of spam (“tinned meat product”). During World War II, of course, I ate my share of SPAM along with millions of other soldiers.
Spam³
proper noun
- Alternative form of spam (tinned meat product)
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: spamming, mail, can, litter, refuse, garbage, littering, waste, junk, trash, rubbish, hungry, anti-spam, spammage, spamference, junk email
Translations
Every language
noun unsolicited bulk electronic messages
| Español | correo basura, correo no deseado, spam |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 스팸 seupaem, 스팸 메일 seupaem meil, 정크 메일 jeongkeu meil |
| 日本語 | スパム supamu, スパムメール supamu mēru, 迷惑メール meiwaku mēru, ジャンクメール janku mēru, バルクメール baruku mēru |
| 中文 | 垃圾郵件 /垃圾邮件 lājī yóujiàn, 垃圾信 lājīxìn |
| हिन्दी | स्पैम spaim |
| Português | spam, lixo eletrônico |
| Français | spam, pourriel, courriel indésirable, pollupostage |
| Deutsch | Spam |
| Italiano | spam |
| Русский | спам spam, нежела́тельная по́чта neželátelʹnaja póčta |
| Tiếng Việt | thư rác |
| العربية | بَيَانٌ مُزْعِج bayānun muzʕij, سُخَام suḵām |
| עברית | דואר זבל do'ar zevel, ספאם spam |
noun undesired electronic content
| Español | spam |
|---|
noun tinned meat
| Español | carne enlatada, carne de almuerzo, spam |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 스팸 seupaem |
| 日本語 | スパム supamu |
| 中文 | 午餐肉 wǔcānròu |
| Deutsch | Frühstücksfleisch |
| Русский | тушёнка tušónka |
| עברית | לוּף luf |
Talk about this word "spam." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/spam. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. spam. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/spam "spam." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/spam.Cite this
@misc{spam_2026,
title = {spam},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/spam},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
