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Added 10 October 2026

cam

/ˈkæm/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about cam at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A river in east central England that flows past Cambridge to join the Ouse River.
A rotating disk shaped to convert circular into linear motion.

Origin

PIE word *ǵómbʰos Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵembʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos Proto-Germanic *kambaz Proto-West Germanic ᚲᚨᛒᚨ Proto-West Germanic *kamb Old Dutch *kamb Middle Dutch kamp Dutch kamder. English cam Recorded since the 16th century, from Dutch kam (“cog of a wheel; originally, comb”) (cognate with English comb, and preserved in modern Dutch compounds such as kamrad, kamwiel (“cog wheel”)). Doublet of comb.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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