Cam
/kæm/noun
The Cam is a river in eastern England, and the name appears in place names and related uses.
Did you know?The river name Cam is often linked to a Brittonic root meaning “crooked,” showing how ancient people named places by the shape of the land rather than by any modern map logic.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Roman / Brittonic
Brittonic
*kambo-
“crooked, bent”
Roman Britain
Latin
Camboritum / Cambo-
“Place-name elements based on a local Celtic root, often in river and settlement names”
Old English
English
Cām
“The river name as inherited into English place-name tradition”
Modern English
English
Cam
“The river name in modern usage”