English Explanatory Dictionary

-ham

English dictionary entry

Meanings

suffix
  1. Place-name suffix, variously indicating a settlement, farm or enclosure.

Pronunciation

/əm/ /həm/ LL-Q7979-Soundguys--ham.wav /ˌhæm/

Word forms

-ham

Etymology

From the convergence of two elements: * Middle English -ham, -hame, from Old English hām (“home, farm, estate”), from Proto-West Germanic *haim. Cognate with German -heim and Dutch -hem, and doublet of home. * Middle English -hamme, from Old English hamm (“enclosure”, often specifically “land enclosed by a river”), from the root of Proto-West Germanic *hammjan (“to pinch, to hem, to enclose”).

Related words

-hampton -hamsted -hamstead -hampstead
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