cham
/kæm/noun
cham is spelled C-H-A-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cham means “An autocrat or dominant critic, especially Samuel Johnson” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cham is chams.
How many letters and syllables are in cham?
| Letters | 4: C-H-A-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 41,154th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cham?
Cham appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th 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 cham?
- /kæm/
Cham has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Cham.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with cham
Also written: khan.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of cham
- chams plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- chamming participle, present
- chammed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cham mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
archaicArchaic spelling of khan.
- 2
An autocrat or dominant critic, especially Samuel Johnson.
noun
- 1
An ethnic group living in Cambodia and Vietnam.
- 2
an ethnic Albanian from Çamëri, originally resided in the western part of the region of Epirus in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Çamëri (engl.: Chameria).
adjective
- 1
Pertaining to the Cham people or their language.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo chew.
contraction
- 1
obsoleteI am
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cham in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 cham come from?
From French cham, from Ottoman Turkish خان (han) (see there for more).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).