spam
English
Alternative forms
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[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 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 an email 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/
- also Lua error in Module:parameters at line 159: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value ae-tensing is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): [ˈspeəm]
- Rhymes: -æm
Noun
spam (countable and uncountable, plural spams)
- (uncountable, rarely countable, computing, Internet) Unsolicited bulk electronic messages.
- Antonym: ham
- 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.
- I get far too much spam.
- I received 58 spams yesterday.
- (uncountable, computing, Internet) Any undesired electronic content automatically generated for commercial purposes.
- A type of tinned meat made mainly from ham.
Hyponyms
Meronyms
Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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Verb
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- (intransitive, computing, Internet) To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages.)
- (transitive, computing, Internet) To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages) to a person or entity.
- (transitive, by extension, video games) To use (a spell or ability) rapidly and repeatedly.
- Stop spamming that special attack!
- (transitive, intransitive, computing, Internet) To post the same text repeatedly with disruptive effect; to flood.
Translations
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See also
References
- ^ “What does the SPAM brand name mean?”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[1], 2013 July 6 (last accessed), archived from the original on 14 October 2013
Anagrams
Danish
Etymology 1
Noun
spam (genitive spams)
Etymology 2
See spamme.
Verb
spam
- imperative of spamme
Dutch
Pronunciation
Verb
spam
- (deprecated template usage) first-person singular present indicative of spammen
- (deprecated template usage) imperative of spammen
French
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
spam m (plural spams)
Synonyms
- (unsolicited email): pourriel, courriel indésirable
Hungarian
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
spam (plural spamek)
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)
Italian
Etymology
Noun
spam m (uncountable)
Related terms
Portuguese
Etymology
Noun
spam m (plural spans)
Slovene
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
spȃm m inan
Alternative forms
Spanish
Etymology
Noun
spam m (plural spams)
Turkish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
spam (definite accusative spamı, plural spamlar)
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
Inflection | ||
---|---|---|
Nominative | spam | |
Definite accusative | spamı | |
Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | spam | spamlar |
Definite accusative | spamı | spamları |
Dative | spama | spamlara |
Locative | spamda | spamlarda |
Ablative | spamdan | spamlardan |
Genitive | spamın | spamların |
Synonyms
Vietnamese
Etymology
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [spam˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [spam˧˧]
- (Saigon) IPA(key): [spam˧˧]
- Phonetic spelling: xpăm
Noun
spam
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/æm
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Computing
- en:Internet
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Video games
- English genericized trademarks
- en:Advertising
- en:E-mail
- Danish terms borrowed from English
- Danish terms derived from English
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- da:Computing
- da:Internet
- Danish non-lemma forms
- Danish verb forms
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Dutch non-lemma forms
- Dutch verb forms
- French terms borrowed from English
- French terms derived from English
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- fr:Computing
- fr:Internet
- fr:Meats
- Hungarian terms borrowed from English
- Hungarian terms derived from English
- Hungarian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Hungarian terms with manual IPA pronunciation
- Hungarian lemmas
- Hungarian nouns
- hu:Computing
- hu:Internet
- Interlingua lemmas
- Interlingua nouns
- ia:Computing
- ia:Internet
- Italian terms borrowed from English
- Italian terms derived from English
- Italian lemmas
- Italian nouns
- Italian uncountable nouns
- Italian masculine nouns
- it:Internet
- Portuguese terms borrowed from English
- Portuguese terms derived from English
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- pt:Computing
- pt:Internet
- Slovene terms borrowed from English
- Slovene terms derived from English
- Slovene 1-syllable words
- Slovene terms with IPA pronunciation
- Slovene lemmas
- Slovene nouns
- Slovene masculine inanimate nouns
- Slovene masculine nouns
- Slovene inanimate nouns
- sl:Internet
- Spanish terms borrowed from English
- Spanish terms derived from English
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish masculine nouns
- es:Computing
- Turkish terms borrowed from English
- Turkish terms derived from English
- Turkish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Turkish lemmas
- Turkish nouns
- tr:Computing
- tr:Internet
- Vietnamese terms borrowed from English
- Vietnamese terms derived from English
- Vietnamese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Vietnamese lemmas
- Vietnamese nouns
- vi:Computing
- vi:Internet