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spam

Pronunciation: /spæm/

The English word “spam” has 9 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. Unsolicited bulk electronic messages.
  2. Any undesired electronic content automatically generated for commercial purposes.
  3. Excessive, often unwanted and repeated online messages.
  4. A large quantity or multitude of anything done repetitively or considered unusually or indiscriminately repetitive.
  5. A type of tinned meat made mainly from ham.

verb

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

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…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.