cam

See also: Appendix:Variations of "cam"

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kæm]

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æm

Etymology 1

A cam

Recorded since the 16th century, from Dutch kam (“cog of a wheel; originally, comb”) (cognate with English comb, and preserved in modern Dutch compounds such as kamrad, kamwiel (“cog wheel”))

Noun

cam (plural cams)

1. A turning or sliding piece which imparts motion to a rod, lever or block brought into sliding or rolling contact with it.
2. A curved wedge, movable about an axis, used for forcing or clamping two pieces together.
3. (Britain, dialect) A ridge or mound of earth.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wright to this entry?)

4. (rock climbing) A camming device, a spring-loaded device for effecting a temporary belay in a rock crevice.

Derived terms

• cambelt
• cambox
• camshaft
• camwheel
• overhead cam
• twin-cam

 

Translations

mechanical part

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 凸輪 (zh), 凸轮 (zh) (tūlún)

• Czech: vačka f
• Danish: kam (da)
• Dutch: nok (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: kamo
• Finnish: epäkesko (fi), nokka (fi), nostovarsi
• French: came (fr) f
• German: Nocken (de) m

• Italian: camma (it) f
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can
• Romanian: camă (ro) f
• Russian: эксце́нтрик (ru) m (ekscéntrik), кулачо́к (ru) m (kulačók)
• Slovak: vačka f
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can
• Swedish: kam (sv) c
• Thai: please add this translation if you can

See also

• cam on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

• climbing cam

Etymology 2

Clipping of camera, from the first part of Latin camera obscura (“dark chamber”), itself from Ancient Greek καμάρα (kamára, “vaulted chamber”), from Proto-Indo-European *kam- (“to arch”)

Noun

cam (plural cams)

1. (informal) Camera.

Derived terms

• bodycam
• camboy
• camcorder
• camgirl
• cammer
• camming
• camphone
• camwhore
• camwhoring
• crittercam
• dash cam
• dashcam
• face cam
• facecam
• fishcam
• handicam
• headcam
• hovercam
• minicam
• nanny cam
• netcam
• phonecam
• recam
• shakycam
• spycam
• Steadicam
• trailcam
• videocam
• webcam

 

Translations

camera — see camera

Verb

cam (third-person singular simple present cams, present participle camming, simple past and past participle cammed)

1. To go on webcam with someone.

Etymology 3

Adverb

cam (comparative more cam, superlative most cam)

1. Alternative form of kam

Further reading

• cam in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• ACM, AMC, C.M.A., CMA, MAC, MCA, Mac, Mac., mac

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Acholi

Noun

cam

1. food

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Caló

Etymology

Inherited from Romani kham.

Noun

cam m

1. (astronomy) sun

   Synonym: ocán

References

• “cam” in J. Tineo Rebolledo, A Chipicalli (La Llengua Gitana), Granada: Gómez de la Cruz, 1900, →OCLC, page 26.
• “cam” in Francisco Quindalé, Diccionario gitano, Madrid: Oficina Tipográfica del Hospicio.
• “cam” in Vocabulario : Caló - Español, Portal del Flamenco y Universidad.

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French

Etymology

From English cam, a shortening of camera.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kam/

Noun

cam f (plural cams)

1. cam (device for filming)

Noun

cam m (uncountable)

1. (military, nautical) contre-amiral (rear admiral (RAdm))

Alternative forms

• (contre-amiral): CAm

Anagrams

• AMC

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Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish camm, from Proto-Celtic *kambos. The sense ‘bent, gay’ is a semantic loan from English bent.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /kaumˠ/
• (Galway) IPA^(key): /kɑːmˠ/
• (Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /kamˠ/

Adjective

cam (genitive singular masculine caim, genitive singular feminine caime, plural cama, comparative caime)

1. crooked
2. (offensive) bent (homosexual)

   Synonym: lúbtha

Declension

Declension of cam

	Singular		Plural (m/f)
Positive	Masculine	Feminine	(strong noun)	(weak noun)
Nominative	cam	cham	cama; chama²
Vocative	chaim		cama
Genitive		caime	cama	cam
Dative	cam; cham¹	cham; chaim (archaic)	cama; chama²
Comparative	níos caime
Superlative	is caime

¹ When the preceding noun is lenited and governed by the definite article.
² When the preceding noun ends in a slender consonant.

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
cam	cham	gcam
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

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Kurdish

Etymology

Related to Persian جام‎ (jâm).

Noun

cam f

1. glass

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Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish camm, from Proto-Celtic *kambos.

Adjective

cam (plural cammey)

1. crooked
2. deformed
3. deceitful
4. (of wood) knotty

Verb

cam (verbal noun cammey, past participle cammit)

1. bow, distort, hook (as finger), crank (of object)

Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
cam	cham	gam
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

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Old Irish

Adjective

cam

1. Alternative spelling of camm

Declension

o/ā-stem
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	cam	cam	cam
Vocative	caim* cam**
Accusative	cam	caim
Genitive	caim	caime	caim
Dative	cam	caim	cam
Plural	Masculine	Feminine/neuter
Nominative	caim	cama
Vocative	camu cama†
Accusative	camu cama†
Genitive	cam
Dative	camaib
Notes	*modifying a noun whose vocative is different from its nominative **modifying a noun whose vocative is identical to its nominative † not when substantivized

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
cam	cham	cam pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

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Romanian

Etymology

From Latin quam, or more likely from camai, from Latin quam magis.

Adverb

cam

1. approximately, a little
2. rather

   Lacul ăsta e cam murdar.

   This lake is rather dirty.

Related terms

• ca

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Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish camm, from Proto-Celtic *kambos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaːm/, /kʰaum/

Adjective

cam

1. crooked, askew

Declension

First declension; forms of the positive degree:

Case	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Plural
Nominative	cam	cham	cama
Vocative	chaim	chaim	cama
Genitive	chaim	chaim/caime	cam
Dative	cham	chaim	cama

Comparative/superlative: caime

Mutation

Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical	Lenition
cam	cham
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

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Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian جام‎ (jâm).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʒam/

Noun

cam (definite accusative camı, plural camlar)

1. glass

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Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 柑 (“orange”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

(classifier cây, trái, quả) cam

1. orange
2. Short for cam sành (“Citrus reticulata × sinensis”).

See also

Derived terms

• cam sành
• quýt làm cam chịu

 

Adjective

cam

1. made of oranges
2. (màu ~) of the colour orange

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Welsh

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *kanksman, *kanxsman, from *kengeti.

Noun

cam m (plural camau)

1. step, pace, footstep
2. footfall (sound made by a footstep)
3. footprint
4. step (of a process), stage, phase

Derived terms

• cam a cham (“step by step”)
• camu (“to step”)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Celtic *kambos, from Proto-Indo-European *kam- (“to arch”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kambo- (“crooked”). Compare Old Irish camm.

Adjective

cam (feminine singular cam, plural ceimion, equative camed, comparative camach, superlative camaf)

1. bent, crooked, distorted
2. wrong, false, incorrect
3. wrong, unjust

Derived terms

• ar gam (“unjustly, wrongly”)
• camu (“to bend, to distort”)
• camgymeriad (“mistake”)

Noun

cam m (plural camau)

1. wrong, misdeed

Etymology 3

Borrowed from English cam.

Noun

cam m (plural camau)

1. cam

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
cam	gam	ngham	cham
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

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Zhuang

Etymology

From Proto-Tai *c.raːmᴬ (“to ask”). Cognate with Thai ถาม (tǎam), Northern Thai ᨳᩣ᩠ᨾ, Lao ຖາມ (thām), Lü ᦏᦱᧄ (ṫhaam), Shan ထၢမ် (thǎam), Ahom 𑜌𑜪 (tham), 𑜌𑜉𑜫 (tham) or 𑜌𑜢𑜤𑜉𑜫 (thuem), Saek ถ่าม.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /ɕaːm˨˦/
• Tone numbers: cam¹
• Hyphenation: cam

Verb

cam (old orthography cam)

1. to ask (to request an answer)
2. to inquire; to ask
3. to ask for instructions