Etymologically
Log in

cam

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:34. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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