cam

[kæm]

/[kæm]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"cam" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cam” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #6,032) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#6,032
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A turning or sliding piece which imparts motion to a rod, lever or block brought into sliding or rolling contact with it.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cam · cam · English

cam · rank #6,032 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,032
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH calculated

Nearest frequency peer: calculated (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “cam”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “cam” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cam vs co
33% similar
cam vs CD
0% similar
cam vs CM
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cam
PropertyValue
Headwordcam
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[kæm]
Letters3
Frequency rank#6,032
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “cam”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).camlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “calculated” (#6,031), “centres” (#6,033), “brutal” (#6,030). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cam” is #6,032. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for cam is neighbouring look-alikes ("co", "CD", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [kæm]. Frequency #6,032 among 5,599 “C” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for cam, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "co", "CD", "CM", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *ǵómbʰos 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. The correct English form is cam, spelled C-A-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A turning or sliding piece which imparts motion to a rod, lever or block brought into sliding or rolling contact with it.
  2. 2
    A turning or sliding piece which imparts motion to a rod, lever or block brought into sliding or rolling contact with it.
  3. 3
    A ridge or mound of earth.
  4. 4
    A spring-loaded camming device, a spring-loaded device for effecting a temporary belay in a rock crevice.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how cam appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Cum doun t' cam' soid

Etymology

PIE word *ǵómbʰos 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.

This word in other languages

leva(Español)came(Français)Nocken(Deutsch)came(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cam"?
"cam" is spelled C-A-M. The IPA pronunciation is [kæm].
What does "cam" mean?
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.
What words are commonly confused with "cam"?
"cam" is commonly confused with "co", "CD", "CM". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cam"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cam" is [kæm]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "cam"?
PIE word *ǵómbʰos 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. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cam", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

thy#6,014fig#6,052les#6,067ore#6,076

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list