Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗noun
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventoryA sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar and allowed to congeal. Often spread on bread or toast or used in jam tarts · A difficult situation. · A difficult situation for a pitcher or defending team. · A blockage, congestion, or immobilization.
First attested in the early 18th c. as a verb meaning “to press, be pressed, be wedged in”. Compare dialectal jammock (“to press, squeeze, crush into a soft mass, chew food"; also "a soft, pulpy substance”). Perhaps from Middle English chammen, champen ("to bite upon something, gnash the teeth"; whence modern champ, chomp), of uncertain origin; probably originally onomatopoeic. The "performance" sense is first attested with regards to jazz in 1929, and its origin, though uncertain, is likely metaphorical, "something sweet made by the combination of many things", with influence from jamboree.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionchammenenm
This page abbreviates 13 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "chammen"
},
"expansion": "Middle English chammen"
},
{
"name": "gl",
"args": {
"1": "\"to bite upon something, gnash the teeth\"; whence modern <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"en\">champ</i>, <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"en\">chomp</i>"
},
"expansion": "(\"to bite upon something, gnash the teeth\"; whence modern champ, chomp)"
},
{
"name": "unc",
"args": {
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"nocap": "1"
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"expansion": "uncertain"
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{
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"title": "onomatopoeic"
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"expansion": "onomatopoeic"
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"1": "en",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "uncertain"
}
],
"links": [
[
"jammock",
"jammock#English"
],
[
"chammen",
"chammen#Middle_English"
],
[
"champen",
"champen#Middle_English"
],
[
"champ",
"champ#English"
],
[
"chomp",
"chomp#English"
],
[
"jamboree",
"jamboree#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Armenian",
"lang_code": "hy",
"word": "ջեմ",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "ǰem"
},
{
"lang": "Azerbaijani",
"lang_code": "az",
"word": "cem",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Belarusian",
"lang_code": "be",
"word": "джэм",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "džem"
},
{
"lang": "Bengali",
"lang_code": "bn",
"word": "জ্যাম",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "jêm"
},
{
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"lang_code": "bg",
"word": "джем",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "džem"
},
{
"lang": "Cantonese",
"lang_code": "yue",
"word": "占",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"tags": [
"Simplified-Chinese"
],
"roman": "zim1, zem1"
},
{
"lang": "Czech",
"lang_code": "cs",
"word": "džem",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Dutch",
"lang_code": "nl",
"word": "jam",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Estonian",
"lang_code": "et",
"word": "džemm",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"word": "jamit",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"word": "jam",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Georgian",
"lang_code": "ka",
"word": "ჯემი",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "ǯemi"
},
{
"lang": "Hindi",
"lang_code": "hi",
"word": "जाम",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "jām"
},
{
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"word": "ジャム",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "jamu"
},
{
"lang": "Kazakh",
"lang_code": "kk",
"word": "джем",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "djem"
},
{
"lang": "Korean",
"lang_code": "ko",
"word": "잼",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "jaem"
},
{
"lang": "Kyrgyz",
"lang_code": "ky",
"word": "джем",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "djem"
},
{
"lang": "Macedonian",
"lang_code": "mk",
"word": "џем",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "džem"
},
{
"lang": "Malay",
"lang_code": "ms",
"word": "jem",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Polish",
"lang_code": "pl",
"word": "dżem",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Romanian",
"lang_code": "ro",
"word": "gem",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"word": "джем",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "džem"
},
{
"lang": "Saanich",
"lang_code": "str",
"word": "ĆÁM",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang_code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Latin script",
"lang_code": "sh",
"word": "džȅm"
},
{
"lang": "Cyrillic script",
"lang_code": "sh",
"word": "џе̏м"
}
]
},
{
"lang": "Sinhalese",
"lang_code": "si",
"word": "ජෑම්",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "jǣm"
},
{
"lang": "Slovak",
"lang_code": "sk",
"word": "džem",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Swahili",
"lang_code": "sw",
"word": "jemu",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Swedish",
"lang_code": "sv",
"word": "jam",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Tajik",
"lang_code": "tg",
"word": "джем",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "džem"
},
{
"lang": "Thai",
"lang_code": "th",
"word": "แยม",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "yɛɛm"
},
{
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"lang_code": "uk",
"word": "джем",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "džem"
},
{
"lang": "Urdu",
"lang_code": "ur",
"word": "جام",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "jām"
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar and allowed to congeal. Often spread on bread or toast or used in jam tarts",
"A difficult situation.",
"A difficult situation for a pitcher or defending team.",
"A blockage, congestion, or immobilization."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncommon",
"uncountable"
],
"recordId": "421fe05b4dee90f9fb42a9fea771f18359d1dc92a2a1205e9acc86df95dda7ff",
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"sourceRecordOrdinal": 169140
}
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"lexicalSenses": 12,
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}
}