eam
/ˈiːm/
"eam" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“eam” is uncommon English (frequency #63,578 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #63,578
- frequency rank, English
- 2,246
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Uncle.
Corpus desk
Index EN-eam · eam · English
eam · rank #63,578 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #63,578
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,246
- PHOTO-FINISH DYK
Nearest frequency peer: DYK (-2 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.
Long-tail ranks near “eam”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Duro
Duro
36,426 corpus weight
- DYK
DYK
36,425 corpus weight
- eam
eam
36,423 corpus weight
- Eastland
Eastland
36,421 corpus weight
- Ebro
Ebro
36,420 corpus weight
- Edgware
Edgware
36,418 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “eam” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | eam |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈiːm/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #63,578 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “eam” in English
Rare enough to double-check
eam is uncommon English at frequency #63,578 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈiːm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Uncle.".
No misspelling variants are generated for eam in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English eem, eme, from Old English ēam (“maternal uncle”), from Proto-Germanic *awahaimaz (“maternal uncle”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwh₂os (“maternal uncle, maternal grandfather”). Cognate with Scots eme (“uncle”), West Frisian iem, omke (… The correct English form is eam, spelled E-A-M.
Definition
- 1Uncle.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how eam appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
James Melville remarked that during his uncle's time in Geneva he became “weill acquented with my eam, Mr. hendrie Scrymgeour” and was said to have been “a frequent visitor at his lodgings in town, and also at the Violet.
Etymology
From Middle English eem, eme, from Old English ēam (“maternal uncle”), from Proto-Germanic *awahaimaz (“maternal uncle”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwh₂os (“maternal uncle, maternal grandfather”). Cognate with Scots eme (“uncle”), West Frisian iem, omke (“uncle”), Dutch oom (“uncle”), German Ohm, Oheim (“maternal uncle”), Latin avunculus (“maternal uncle”). See uncle. Doublet of oom and ohm.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "eam", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).