Etymologically
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cam

Etymology and origin of the English word cam

History Permalink
Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1777
Borrowed from
Dutch kam
Ultimate origin
Dutch (kam)

Pronunciation

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Dutch kam (“comb, cog of a wheel”),[2][3][4][5] as in kamrad, cogwheel,[4] from Proto-Germanic *kambaz, comb (see comb),[2][3] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *gembh- (“tooth, nail”).[2] MWU and Barnhart also suggest French came, from German Kamm,[6][3] and the word may have been influenced by, or be short for, camber, a slight arch.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A projecting part of a rotating piece of machinery that imparts motion to another part: 1777.[2][3][7][6]

Semantic evolution

The OED notes that the original method was by cogs or teeth fixed at points round the rim of a wheel.[2] A cam converts regular rotary motion into irregular or reciprocating motion.[2][3] The camshaft is attested from 1850.[2]

Timeline

  • 1777 – a machine cam.[3]
  • 1850 – camshaft.[2]
  • by 1990 – cam, a camera.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An eccentric or curved wheel or projection on a rotating shaft, used to give a reciprocating or variable motion to a part it touches.

Word family

  • camshaft
  • webcam
  • minicam
  • camcorder
  • heart cam
  • comb
  • camber

Usage notes

Cam is also a recent clipping of camera (by 1990).[2] An unrelated dialect cam, crooked, awry (16th century), is probably from Welsh cam (“crooked”),[6][7] and a northern dialect cam is a ridge or earthen bank (1788).[7]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Cam.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/cam. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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