Standard Lemma guide

spam

name · noun · verb · 15 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈspæm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • [ˈspeəm] æ-raising
  • rhymes with -æm
  • CMU ARPABET: S P AE1 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

Alternative form of spam (“tinned meat product”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

Alternative form of spam (tinned meat product)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Unsolicited bulk electronic messages.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, countable, rare, uncountable

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • I get far too much spam.
  • I received 58 spams yesterday.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: junk mail

Antonyms: ham

4

noun

Meaning 4

Any undesired electronic content automatically generated for commercial purposes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, uncountable

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Excessive, often unwanted and repeated online messages.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Ellipsis of spam account.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

A large quantity or multitude of anything done repetitively or considered unusually or indiscriminately repetitive.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, countable, often, uncountable

Topics: video-games

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

A type of tinned meat made mainly from ham.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

verb

Meaning 9

To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages.)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, intransitive

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

verb

Meaning 10

To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic messages) to a person or entity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, transitive

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

verb

Meaning 11

To send messages repeatedly, often with disruptive effect; to flood.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, intransitive, transitive

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

verb

Meaning 12

To do something rapidly and repeatedly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, transitive

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences, video-games

Examples

  • Stop spamming that special attack!
  • Spam the Z key to get a speed boost.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

noun

Meaning 13

unwanted e-mail (usually of a commercial nature sent out in bulk)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: junk e-mail

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: electronic mail, e-mail, email

14

noun

Meaning 14

a canned meat made largely from pork

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: canned meat, tinned meat

15

verb

Meaning 15

send unwanted or junk e-mail

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: e-mail, email, netmail

History

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'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.

Across languages

Translations

122 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: بَيَانٌ مُزْعِج (bayānun muzʕij) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Arabic: سُخَام (suḵām) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Armenian: լցոն (lcʻon) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Armenian: սպամ (spam) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Bulgarian: спам (spam) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Catalan: correu brossa — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Chinese Mandarin: 垃圾郵件 /垃圾邮件 (lājī yóujiàn) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Chinese Mandarin: 垃圾信 (lājīxìn) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Czech: spam — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Danish: spam — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Dutch: spam — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Dutch: ongewenste elektronische post — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Dutch: spamboodschap — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Dutch: ongewenste mail — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Esperanto: spamo — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Esperanto: trudaĵo — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Estonian: spämm — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Faroese: spamm — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Finnish: roskaposti — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Finnish: spämmi — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • French: spam — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • French: pourriel — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • French: courriel indésirable — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • French: pollupostage — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Georgian: სპამი (sṗami) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • German: Spam — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Hebrew: דואר זבל (do'ar zevel) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Hebrew: ספאם (spam) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Hindi: स्पैम (spaim) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Hungarian: szpem — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Icelandic: ruslpóstur — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Ido: mesajacho — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Interlingua: spam — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Irish: turscar — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Italian: spam — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Japanese: スパム (supamu) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Japanese: スパムメール (supamu mēru) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Japanese: 迷惑メール (meiwaku mēru) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Japanese: ジャンクメール (janku mēru) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Japanese: バルクメール (baruku mēru) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Korean: 스팸 (seupaem) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Korean: 스팸 메일 (seupaem meil) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Korean: 정크 메일 (jeongkeu meil) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Latvian: mēstule — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Lithuanian: brukalas — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Lithuanian: šlamštas — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Macedonian: спам (spam) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Marathi: स्पॅम (spĕm) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Norwegian: søppelpost — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Polish: spam — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Portuguese: spam — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Portuguese: lixo eletrônico — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Russian: спам (spam) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Russian: нежела́тельная по́чта (neželátelʹnaja póčta) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Serbo-Croatian: neželjena pošta — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Slovene: vsiljena pošta — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Slovene: neželena e-pošta — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Spanish: correo basura — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Spanish: correo no deseado — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Spanish: spam — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Swedish: spam — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Swedish: skräppost — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Thai: สแปม (s̄pæm) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Turkish: spam — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Turkish: yığın mesaj — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Vietnamese: thư rác — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Yiddish: בליצמיסט (blitsmist) — unsolicited bulk electronic messages
  • Catalan: contingut brossa — undesired electronic content
  • Finnish: roskaposti — undesired electronic content
  • Finnish: spämmi — undesired electronic content
  • Spanish: spam — undesired electronic content
  • Bulgarian: русенско варено (rusensko vareno) — tinned meat
  • Chinese Mandarin: 午餐肉 (wǔcānròu) — tinned meat
  • Finnish: nötkötti — tinned meat
  • German: Frühstücksfleisch — tinned meat
  • Hebrew: לוּף (luf) — tinned meat
  • Japanese: スパム (supamu) — tinned meat
  • Korean: 스팸 (seupaem) — tinned meat
  • Marathi: स्पॅम (spĕm) — tinned meat
  • Navajo: Bilagáana bikʼos — tinned meat
  • Navajo: atsįʼ yikʼáni — tinned meat
  • Navajo: atsįʼ béé átʼáhí — tinned meat
  • Polish: konserwa turystyczna — tinned meat
  • Polish: mielonka — tinned meat
  • Russian: тушёнка (tušónka) — tinned meat
  • Spanish: carne enlatada — tinned meat
  • Spanish: carne de almuerzo — tinned meat
  • Spanish: spam — tinned meat
  • Yiddish: ספּאַמפֿלייש (spamfleysh) — tinned meat
  • Bulgarian: спамя (spamja) — intransitive
  • Czech: spamovat — intransitive
  • Esperanto: rubleteri — intransitive
  • Estonian: spämmima — intransitive
  • Faroese: spamma — intransitive
  • Finnish: roskapostittaa — intransitive
  • Finnish: spämmätä — intransitive
  • French: spammer — intransitive
  • French: pourrieller — intransitive
  • German: spammen — intransitive
  • Interlingua: spammar — intransitive
  • Italian: spammare — intransitive
  • Māori: hītini — intransitive
  • Norwegian: sende søppelpost — intransitive
  • Portuguese: spamear — intransitive
  • Portuguese: spammar — intransitive
  • Russian: спа́мить (spámitʹ) — intransitive
  • Spanish: spamear — intransitive
  • Swedish: spamma — intransitive
  • Turkish: spamlemek — intransitive
  • Bulgarian: спамя (spamja) — transitive
  • Estonian: spämmima — transitive
  • Faroese: spamma — transitive
  • Finnish: roskapostittaa — transitive
  • Finnish: spämmätä — transitive
  • Italian: spammare — transitive
  • Māori: hītini — transitive
  • Norwegian: sende søppelpost — transitive
  • Russian: спа́мить (spámitʹ) — transitive
  • Russian: спа́ммить (spámmitʹ) — transitive
  • Spanish: inundar — transitive
  • Spanish: spamear — transitive
  • Turkish: spamlemek — transitive