ham1

 
Pronunciation: /ham/

noun

  • 1 [mass noun] salted or smoked meat from the upper part of a pig’s leg: thin slices of ham [count noun]: a honey-baked ham
  • 2 (hams) the back of the thigh or the thighs and buttocks: he squatted down on his hams

Origin:

Old English ham, hom (originally denoting the back of the knee), from a Germanic base meaning 'be crooked'. In the late 15th century the term came to denote the back of the thigh, hence the thigh or hock of an animal