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spam

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Spam, SPAM, špám, and ṣpäṃ

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
spam email list (noun sense 1)
spam can (noun sense 6)

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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"[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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spam (countable and uncountable, plural spams)

  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[4], 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.
  6. (by extension, often video games) A large quantity or multitude of anything done repetitively or considered unusually or indiscriminately repetitive.
  8. A type of tinned meat made mainly from ham.

Hyponyms

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Meronyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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undesired electronic content
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

Verb

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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.)
    • 1993 March 31, Joel Furr, “ARMM: ARMM: >>>>Ad Infinitum”, in alt.folklore.computers‎[5] (Usenet), message-ID <d5SlxvmhmNwJ>:
      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.
  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.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ “What does the SPAM brand name mean?”, in SPAM‎[1], 6 July 2013 (last accessed), archived from the original on 14 October 2013
  2. ^ Michael Palin, Terry Jones (15 December 1970), “Spam”, in Monty Python, Monty Python's Flying Circus‎[2], season 2, episode 12, London: BBC, via BBC One
  3. ^ Brad Templeton (5 October 2025 (last accessed)), “Origin of the term "spam" to mean net abuse”, in Brad Templeton's Home Page‎[3], archived from the original on 16 July 2012

Anagrams

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Danish

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from English spam.

Noun

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spam (genitive spams)

  1. (computing, Internet) Spam.

Etymology 2

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See spamme.

Verb

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spam

  1. imperative of spamme

Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from English spam.

Noun

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spam m (uncountable, no diminutive)

  1. spam (undesired electronic content)

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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spam

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

French

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Etymology

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    Borrowed from English spam.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    spam m (plural spams)

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

    Synonyms

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    Hungarian

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    Hungarian Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia hu

    Etymology

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    Unadapted borrowing from English spam.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    spam (plural spamek)

    1. (computing, Internet) spam

    Declension

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    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

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    Noun

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    spam (plural spams)

    1. (computing, Internet) spam

    Italian

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    Etymology

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    Unadapted borrowing from English spam.

    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): /ˈspam/
    • Rhymes: -am
    • Hyphenation: spàm

    Noun

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    spam m (invariable)

    1. (Internet) spam
      Ho la casella intasata dallo spam.
      My inbox is filled with spam e-mails.
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    Polish

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    Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia pl

    Etymology

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      Borrowed from English spam.

      Pronunciation

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      • IPA(key): /ˈspam/
      • Audio:(file)
      • Rhymes: -am
      • Syllabification: spam

      Noun

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      spam m inan

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

      Declension

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

      Derived terms

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      verb
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      noun

      Further reading

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      • “spam”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[6] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
      • “spam”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[7] (in Polish)

      Portuguese

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      Etymology

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        Unadapted borrowing from English spam.

        Pronunciation

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        Noun

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        spam m (uncountable)

        1. (computing, Internet) spam

        Further reading

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        Romanian

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        Romanian Wikipedia has an article on:
        Wikipedia ro

        Alternative forms

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        Etymology

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        Borrowed from English spam.

        Pronunciation

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        • IPA(key): /ˈspam/
        • Rhymes: -am
        • Hyphenation: spam

        Noun

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        spam n (plural spamuri)

        1. (computing, Internet) spam

        Declension

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

        Further reading

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        Slovene

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        Etymology

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        Borrowed from English spam.

        Pronunciation

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        Noun

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        spȃm m inan

        1. (Internet) spam (unwanted messages)

        Alternative forms

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        Spanish

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        Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:
        Wikipedia es

        Etymology

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          Unadapted borrowing from English spam.

          Pronunciation

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

          Noun

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          spam m (plural spams)

          1. (computing) spam
            Synonym: correo basura

          Usage notes

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          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.

          Derived terms

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          Further reading

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          Swedish

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          Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
          Wikipedia sv

          Etymology

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          Borrowed from English spam. Earliest attested in 1997.

          Noun

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          spam n

          1. spam (unsolicited electronic messages)
            Synonym: skräppost

          Declension

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

          Derived terms

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          References

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          • “spam”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)

          Turkish

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          Etymology

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          Borrowed from English spam.

          Pronunciation

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

          Noun

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          spam (definite accusative spamı, plural spamlar)

          1. (computing, Internet) spam
            Synonym: yığın mesaj

          Usage notes

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

          Declension

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          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

          Derived terms

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          Further reading

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          • “spam”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu

          Vietnamese

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          Etymology

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          Borrowed from English spam.

          Pronunciation

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          Noun

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          spam

          1. (computing, Internet) spam
          Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=spam&oldid=91246926"