gammon

/ˈɡæmən/

//ˈɡæmən// noun

"gammon" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“gammon” is uncommon English (frequency #52,340 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,340
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A cut of quick-cured pork leg.

Corpus desk

Index EN-gammon · gammon · English

gammon · rank #52,340 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,340
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH Gagnon

Nearest frequency peer: Gagnon (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “gammon”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “gammon” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for gammon
PropertyValue
Headwordgammon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɡæmən/
Letters6
Frequency rank#52,340
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “gammon” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).gammonfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Gagnon” (#52,339), “gangway” (#52,341), “GCHQ” (#52,343). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “gammon” is #52,340. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

gammon is uncommon English at frequency #52,340 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡæmən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A cut of quick-cured pork leg.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for gammon in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English *gammon, gambon, from Old French gambon (compare modern French jambon (“ham”)), from gambe (“leg”), from Late Latin gamba, from Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ). Doublet of jambon and jamon. The correct English form is gammon, spelled G-A-M-M-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A cut of quick-cured pork leg.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. [T]he cooks were laying a refection before him of sack and anchovies and garlic sausage and gammons of bacon and - this was the important item - a great pudding dish out of which rose the noble dome of a crisp brown pie-crust.
  2. I bake a piece of gammon that will be served both hot and, later, as cold cuts.

Etymology

From Middle English *gammon, gambon, from Old French gambon (compare modern French jambon (“ham”)), from gambe (“leg”), from Late Latin gamba, from Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ). Doublet of jambon and jamon.

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 "gammon"?
"gammon" is spelled G-A-M-M-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡæmən/.
What does "gammon" mean?
As a noun, "gammon" means: A cut of quick-cured pork leg.
How do you pronounce "gammon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gammon" is /ˈɡæmən/. 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 "gammon"?
From Middle English *gammon, gambon, from Old French gambon (compare modern French jambon (“ham”)), from gambe (“leg”), from Late Latin gamba, from Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ). Doublet of jambon and jamon. 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 "gammon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list