cam
/ˈkeə̯m/noun, verb, adverb
cam is spelled C-A-M: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cam means “A turning or sliding piece which imparts motion to a rod, lever or block brought into sliding or rolling contact with it” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cam is cams.
How many letters and syllables are in cam?
| Letters | 3: C-A-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 6,047th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cam?
Cam appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cam?
- /ˈkæm/
- [ˈkʰæm]
- US /ˈkeə̯m/
Cam has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cam.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with cam
Also written: kam.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with cam?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cam from its last stressed vowel (/eəm/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: mac.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of cam
- cams plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- camming participle, present
- cammed participle, past
- more cam comparative
- most cam superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cam mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A turning or sliding piece which imparts motion to a rod, lever or block brought into sliding or rolling contact with it.
- 2
A curved wedge, movable about an axis, used for forcing or clamping two pieces together.
- 3
UKA ridge or mound of earth.
- 4
A spring-loaded camming device, a spring-loaded device for effecting a temporary belay in a rock crevice.
- 5
informalCamera.
- 6
A bootleg recording of a film recorded in a movie theater.
verb
- 1
To go on webcam.
noun
- 1
Initialism of complementary and alternative medicine.
- 2
Initialism of common area maintenance.
- 3
Initialism of computer-aided manufacturing.
- 4
Initialism of cockpit area microphone.
- 5
Initialism of cell-adhesion molecule.
- 6
Initialism of crassulacean acid metabolism.
- 7
USInitialism of contract air mail (often followed by the route number, eg, CAM 21).
- 8
Initialism of content-addressable memory.
adverb
- 1
Alternative form of kam.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cam in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense mechanical part:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cam come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).