English word origin

Etymology of Abscam

Short for Arab scam, later re-explained as Abdul scam after the name of the fictitious company involved, in response to complaints from the American-Arab Relations Committee.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

name

A code name for a sting operation set up by the FBI in the 1970s to thwart bribery in Congress.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Short for Arab scam, later re-explained as Abdul scam after the name of the fictitious company involved, in response to complaints from the American-Arab Relations Committee.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [],
  "links": [
    [
      "Arab",
      "Arab"
    ],
    [
      "scam",
      "scam"
    ],
    [
      "Abdul",
      "Abdul"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A code name for a sting operation set up by the FBI in the 1970s to thwart bribery in Congress."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "historical"
      ],
      "recordId": "3a36893e2fc5b92302bb82aca6a151ee4259ee29f5516f12211bdb9c811b8f99",
      "rawRecordSha256": "3dd47a360e8dddb5e5cf07501671ff1318172b5312b9e907d4f8cbb272960bc9",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 4287410
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Abscam →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-QWJzY2Ft