cham en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /kæm/
Etymology
From French cham, from Ottoman Turkish خان (han) (see there for more).
Meanings
-
(alt-of, archaic) Archaic spelling of khan.
alt of khan
But Baiothnoi, chief captain of the Tartarian army (for they were not admitted to speak with the great cham himself), cried quits with this friar, outvying him with the greatness and divinity of their cham; and sent back by them a blunt letter[…]
1840, Thomas Fuller, The History of the Holy War:And ſince we haue arriu’d in Scythia, Beſides rich preſents from the puiſant Cham, UUe haue his highneſſe letters to commaund Aide and aſſiſtance if we ſtand in need.
c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
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An autocrat or dominant critic, especially Samuel Johnson.
The Tonsons […] would publish Johnson's Shakespeare only by subscription, obliging the Great Cham to sell copies well ahead of publication
2007, Michael Dobson, “For his Nose was as sharpe as a Pen”, in London Review of Books, volume 29, number 9, page 3:Sitting at a table, drinking Ale, observing the Mist thro’ the Window-Panes, Mason forty-five, the Cham sixty-four.
1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| chams | Number=Plur | lexicographic |