QUIZZES
DISCOVER THE INFLUENCE OF PORTUGUESE ON ENGLISH VIA THIS QUIZ!
We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?
Question 1 of 11
Which of the following animal names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?
Origin of Spam
OTHER WORDS FROM Spam
spammer, nounWords nearby Spam
spall, Spallanzani, spallation, spallation product, spalpeen, Spam, spambot, spammie, spamming, span, spanakopita
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for Spam
British Dictionary definitions for Spam (1 of 2)
spam
/ (spæm) computing slang /
verb spams, spamming or spammed
to send unsolicited electronic mail or text messages simultaneously to a number of e-mail addresses or mobile phones
noun
unsolicited electronic mail or text messages sent in this way
Derived forms of spam
spammer, nounWord Origin for spam
C20: from the repeated use of the word Spam in a popular sketch from the British television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, first broadcast in 1969
British Dictionary definitions for Spam (2 of 2)
Spam
/ (spæm) /
noun
trademark a kind of tinned luncheon meat, made largely from pork
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for Spam
notes for spam
The name comes from a Monty Python comedy skit about a restaurant that served only Spam.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.