spam

See also: Spam, SPAM, špám, and ṣpäṃ

English

Alternative forms

• Spam, SPAM

Etymology

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 sketch (Flying Circus, Episode 25). 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.

The term appears to have been used earlier in a different sense in relation to "Multi-User Dungeons" (MUDs), a kind of multi-user computer gaming environment before widespread use of the Internet, in the 1980s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspæm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• also (æ-tensing) IPA^(key): [ˈspeəm]
• Rhymes: -æm

Noun

spam (countable and uncountable, plural spams)

Sense 5

2. (uncountable, rarely countable, computing, Internet) Unsolicited bulk electronic messages.

   Synonym: junk mail

   Antonym: ham

   Coordinate term: bacn

   I get far too much spam.

   I received 58 spams yesterday.

   • 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist‎^[2], volume 407, number 8837, page 74:

     In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%. That means about $165 billion was spent not on drumming up business, but on annoying people, creating landfill and cluttering spam filters.

3. (uncountable, computing, Internet) Any undesired electronic content automatically generated for commercial purposes.
   • Long title, Spam Control Act (Cap. 311A, R. Ed. 2008)

     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.

4. (Internet) Excessive, often unwanted and repeated online messages.
5. (Internet) Ellipsis of spam account.
7. A type of tinned meat made mainly from ham.

Hyponyms

• blogspam
• link spam
• log spam
• referrer spam
• social spam
• spam killer
• spam musubi
• spam relay

Meronyms

• e-mail
• email

Derived terms

• ghost spam
• referral spam
• snowshoe spam
• spambot
• spamdexing
• spam in a can
• spammer
• spamming
• spammy
• spamsilog
• spamvertisement
• spamvertiser
• spamvertising
• spamvertizement

Translations

unsolicited bulk electronic messages

• Arabic: بَيَانٌ مُزْعِج m (bayānun muzʕij), سُخَام m (suḵām)
• Armenian: լցոն (hy) (lcʻon), սպամ (hy) (spam)
• Bulgarian: спам m (spam)
• Catalan: correu brossa m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 垃圾郵件 / 垃圾邮件 (zh) (lājī yóujiàn), 垃圾信 (lājīxìn)

• Czech: spam (cs) m
• Danish: spam
• Dutch: spam (nl) m, ongewenste elektronische post f, spamboodschap f, ongewenste mail m
• Esperanto: spamo (eo), trudaĵo
• Estonian: spämm
• Faroese: spamm n
• Finnish: roskaposti (fi), spämmi (fi)
• French: spam (fr) m, pourriel (fr) m, courriel indésirable (fr) m, pollupostage (fr) m
• German: Spam (de) m, unerwünschte elektronische Massenpost f
• Hebrew: דואר זבל (he) m (do'ar zevel), ספאם (he) m (spam)
• Hindi: स्पैम (spaim)
• Hungarian: szpem
• Icelandic: ruslpóstur m
• Ido: mesajacho (io)
• Interlingua: spam
• Irish: turscar m
• Italian: spam (it) m
• Japanese: スパム (ja) (supamu), 迷惑メール (ja) (meiwaku-mēru)
• Korean: 스팸 (seupaem)
• Latvian: mēstule (lv) f
• Lithuanian: brukalas, šlamštas
• Macedonian: спам (spam)
• Marathi: स्पॅम m (spĕm)
• Norwegian: søppelpost m
• Polish: spam (pl) m
• Portuguese: spam (pt) m, lixo eletrônico m
• Russian: спам (ru) m (spam), нежела́тельная по́чта f (neželátelʹnaja póčta)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: neželjena pošta f

• Slovene: vsiljena pošta f, neželena e-pošta f
• Spanish: correo basura (es) m, correo no deseado m, spam (es) m
• Swedish: spam (sv) n, skräppost (sv) c
• Thai: สแปม (s̄pæm)
• Turkish: spam (tr), yığın mesaj
• Vietnamese: thư rác
• Yiddish: בליצמיסט n (blitsmist)

undesired electronic content

• Catalan: contingut brossa
• Finnish: roskaposti (fi), spämmi (fi)
• Spanish: spam (es) m

tinned meat

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 午餐肉 (zh) (wǔcānròu)

• Finnish: nötkötti (fi)
• German: Frühstücksfleisch (de) n
• Hebrew: לוּף (he) m (luf)
• Japanese: スパム (ja)
• Korean: 스팸 (seupaem)
• Marathi: स्पॅम n (spĕm)
• Navajo: Bilagáana bikʼos, atsįʼ yikʼáni, atsįʼ béé átʼáhí
• Polish: konserwa turystyczna f, mielonka (pl) f
• Russian: тушёнка (ru) f (tušónka)
• Spanish: carne enlatada f, carne de almuerzo f, spam (es) m (Cuba)
• Yiddish: ספּאַמפֿלייש n (spamfleysh)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} istenmeyen yığın ileti (or ^{(please verify)} İYİ (tr) for short in computing), ^{(please verify)} çöp ileti, ^{(please verify)} sürü ileti

Verb

spam (third-person singular simple present spams, present participle spamming, simple past and past participle spammed)

1. (intransitive, computing, Internet) To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages.)
2. (transitive, computing, Internet) To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages) to a person or entity.
3. (transitive, intransitive, computing, Internet) To send messages repeatedly, often with disruptive effect; to flood.
4. (transitive, by extension, computing, video games) To do something rapidly and repeatedly.

   Stop spamming that special attack!

   Spam the Z key to get a speed boost.

Translations

intransitive

• Czech: spamovat
• Esperanto: rubleteri
• Estonian: spämmima
• Faroese: spamma
• Finnish: roskapostittaa (fi), spämmätä (fi)
• French: spammer (fr), pourrieller (fr)
• German: spammen
• Interlingua: spammar
• Italian: spammare
• Maori: hītini
• Norwegian: sende søppelpost
• Portuguese: spamear, spammar
• Russian: спа́мить (ru) (spámitʹ)
• Spanish: spamear
• Swedish: spamma (sv)
• Turkish: spamlemek

transitive

• Estonian: spämmima
• Faroese: spamma
• Finnish: roskapostittaa (fi), spämmätä (fi)
• Italian: spammare
• Maori: hītini
• Norwegian: sende søppelpost
• Russian: спа́мить (ru) (spámitʹ), спа́ммить (spámmitʹ)
• Spanish: inundar (es), spamear
• Turkish: spamlemek

See also

• Wikipedia article on spamming
• Official SPAM home page

Anagrams

• AMPS, APMs, MAPs, MPAs, amps, maps, pams, sAMP, samp

Danish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English spam.

Noun

spam (genitive spams)

1. (computing, Internet) Spam.

Etymology 2

See spamme.

Verb

spam

1. imperative of spamme

Dutch

Pronunciation

• (Belgium) IPA^(key): /spɑm/
• (Netherlands) IPA^(key): /spɛm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: spam

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English spam.

Noun

spam m (uncountable)

1. spam (undesired electronic content)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

spam

1. inflection of spammen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English spam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spam/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

spam m (plural spams)

1. spam (meat)
2. (computing, Internet) spam

Synonyms

• (unsolicited email): pourriel, courriel indésirable

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from English spam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈspɛm]
• Rhymes: -ɛm

Noun

spam (plural spamek)

1. (computing, Internet) spam

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	spam	spamek
accusative	spamet	spameket
dative	spamnek	spameknek
instrumental	spammel	spamekkel
causal-final	spamért	spamekért
translative	spammé	spamekké
terminative	spamig	spamekig
essive-formal	spamként	spamekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	spamben	spamekben
superessive	spamen	spameken
adessive	spamnél	spameknél
illative	spambe	spamekbe
sublative	spamre	spamekre
allative	spamhez	spamekhez
elative	spamből	spamekből
delative	spamről	spamekről
ablative	spamtől	spamektől
non-attributive possessive – singular	spamé	spameké
non-attributive possessive – plural	spaméi	spamekéi

Possessive forms of spam

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	spamem	spameim
2nd person sing.	spamed	spameid
3rd person sing.	spame	spamei
1st person plural	spamünk	spameink
2nd person plural	spametek	spameitek
3rd person plural	spamük	spameik

Interlingua

Noun

spam (plural spams)

1. (computing, Internet) spam

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English spam.

Noun

spam m (invariable)

1. (Internet) spam

Related terms

• spamming

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English spam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspam/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: spam

Noun

spam m inan

1. (computing, Internet) spam (unsolicited bulk electronic messages)

Declension

Declension of spam

	singular
nominative	spam
genitive	spamu
dative	spamowi
accusative	spam
instrumental	spamem
locative	spamie
vocative	spamie

Derived terms

verb

• spamować

Related terms

noun

• spamer

Further reading

• spam in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• spam in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English spam.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /isˈpɐ̃/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /isˈpɐ̃/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /iʃˈpɐ̃/

Noun

spam m (uncountable)

1. (computing, Internet) spam

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English spam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspam/
• Rhymes: -am

Noun

spam n (plural spamuri)

1. (computing, Internet) spam

Declension

Declension of spam

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	spam	spamul		spamuri	spamurile
genitive-dative	spam	spamului		spamuri	spamurilor
vocative	spamule			spamurilor

Slovene

Etymology

Borrowed from English spam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spɛ́ːm/

Noun

spȃm m inan

1. (Internet) spam (unwanted messages)

Alternative forms

• spȇm

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English spam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspam/ [ˈspãm], /esˈpam/ [esˈpãm]
• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: spam

Noun

spam m (plural spams)

1. (computing) spam

   Synonym: correo basura

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Related terms

• espamear

Further reading

• “spam”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
• “spam”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English spam. Earliest attested in 1997.

Noun

spam n

1. spam (unsolicited electronic messages)

   Synonym: skräppost

Declension

Declension of spam

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	spam	spams
	definite	spammet	spammets
plural	indefinite	spam	spams
	definite	spammen	spammens

Derived terms

• spammare
• spamfilter

References

• spam in Svensk ordbok (SO)

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from English spam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [spam]
• Hyphenation: spam

Noun

spam (definite accusative spamı, plural spamlar)

1. (computing, Internet) spam

Usage notes

As the word starts with two consonants, some Turkish people will have difficulties to spell it correctly. It may be spelled also sıpam.

Declension

Declension of spam

singular plural nominative spam spamlar definite accusative spamı spamları dative spama spamlara locative spamda spamlarda ablative spamdan spamlardan genitive spamın spamların Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular spamım spamlarım 2nd singular spamın spamların 3rd singular spamı spamları 1st plural spamımız spamlarımız 2nd plural spamınız spamlarınız 3rd plural spamları spamları definite accusative singular plural 1st singular spamımı spamlarımı 2nd singular spamını spamlarını 3rd singular spamını spamlarını 1st plural spamımızı spamlarımızı 2nd plural spamınızı spamlarınızı 3rd plural spamlarını spamlarını dative singular plural 1st singular spamıma spamlarıma 2nd singular spamına spamlarına 3rd singular spamına spamlarına 1st plural spamımıza spamlarımıza 2nd plural spamınıza spamlarınıza 3rd plural spamlarına spamlarına locative singular plural 1st singular spamımda spamlarımda 2nd singular spamında spamlarında 3rd singular spamında spamlarında 1st plural spamımızda spamlarımızda 2nd plural spamınızda spamlarınızda 3rd plural spamlarında spamlarında ablative singular plural 1st singular spamımdan spamlarımdan 2nd singular spamından spamlarından 3rd singular spamından spamlarından 1st plural spamımızdan spamlarımızdan 2nd plural spamınızdan spamlarınızdan 3rd plural spamlarından spamlarından genitive singular plural 1st singular spamımın spamlarımın 2nd singular spamının spamlarının 3rd singular spamının spamlarının 1st plural spamımızın spamlarımızın 2nd plural spamınızın spamlarınızın 3rd plural spamlarının spamlarının

Synonyms

• yığın mesaj

Vietnamese

Etymology

Borrowed from English spam.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [spam˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [spam˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [spam˧˧]
• Phonetic spelling: xpăm

Noun

spam

1. (computing, Internet) spam