Discover the origin and meaning of the word 'ham' and why this type of meat is called ham, explained simply for teenagers.
Ham is a type of meat that comes from the thigh or rear leg of a pig. The reason it is called "ham" comes from words used long ago in history.
The word "ham" traces back to Old English "hamm," which meant the back of the knee or the bend of the leg. Over time, the word came to refer to the specific cut of meat from the pig's rear leg because that part of the animal relates to the bend of the leg.
So, the name "ham" isn't just random — it originally described the part of the pig the meat came from. People have been eating and curing ham for thousands of years, and the word stuck around to describe this special kind of pork.
In short, "ham" is named after the part of the pig (the leg) it comes from, with roots in old languages describing the bend or back part of the leg!