gammon.
A cut of quick-cured pork leg.
Meaning & usage
A cut of quick-cured pork leg.
Where this word comes from
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.
To cure bacon by salting.
Where this word comes from
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.
To joke, kid around, play.
To beat by a gammon (without the opponent bearing off a stone).
Where this word comes from
From Middle English gamenen, gamene, from Old English gamnian, gæmnian, gamenian (“to joke, play”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamanōn, from Proto-Germanic *gamanōną (“to play, have fun, joke”). Cognate with Middle High German gamenen (“to mock, make fun of”), Icelandic gamna (“to have fun”). More at game.
A joke, trick; play, sport, merriment.
A victory in backgammon achieved when the opponent has not borne off a single stone.
Backgammon (the game itself).
Where this word comes from
From Middle English gamenen, gamene, from Old English gamnian, gæmnian, gamenian (“to joke, play”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamanōn, from Proto-Germanic *gamanōną (“to play, have fun, joke”). Cognate with Middle High German gamenen (“to mock, make fun of”), Icelandic gamna (“to have fun”). More at game.
A rope fastening a bowsprit to the stem of a ship (usually called a gammoning).
Where this word comes from
Perhaps related to the first etymology, with reference to tying up a ham.
To lash with ropes (on a ship).
Where this word comes from
Perhaps related to the first etymology, with reference to tying up a ham.
Chatter, ridiculous nonsense.
Where this word comes from
Perhaps a special use of the word from etymology 2.
To deceive; to lie plausibly to.
Where this word comes from
Perhaps a special use of the word from etymology 2.
Fake, pretend; bullshit.
I was just being gammon.
Where this word comes from
Perhaps a special use of the word from etymology 2.
A middle-aged or older right-wing, reactionary white man, or such men collectively.
Where this word comes from
Gained popularity in 2017 (in the phrase "Great Wall of Gammon", likening the referents' rosy complexions to gammon (“ham, bacon”)), although the metaphor was in use earlier: the BBC points to a 2016 use of “gammon face”.
Try it on your idea.
gammon has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.