Meanings
- colloquialA personification of the United States federal government or (rare) citizens.First known use early 19th c.
Uncle Sam needs brave men and women to enlist in the Army.
Origin
From uncle + Sam (diminutive of the male name Samuel), probably based on the initialism U.S. of the United States. While folk etymology suggests that the term was named after Samuel Wilson (1766–1854), a meat packer from Troy, New York, who supplied the United States Army with canned meat during the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom, the Oxford English Dictionary notes there is no evidence that this is the case.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اَلْعَمّ سَام
- اَلْعَمّ سَام (al-ʕamm sām)personification of the United States federal government or citizens
Basque Osaba Sam
- Osaba Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Bulgarian Чичо Сам
- Чичо Сам (Čičo Sam)personification of the United States federal government or citizens
Catalan Oncle Sam
- Oncle Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Chinese Mandarin 山姆大叔
- 山姆大叔 (Shānmǔ dàshū)personification of the United States federal government or citizens
Czech Strýček Sam
- Strýček Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Estonian Onu Sam
- Onu Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Finnish Setä Samuli
- Setä Samulipersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
French Oncle Sam
- Oncle Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
German Uncle Sam
- Uncle Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Greek μπάρμπα-Σαμ, Θείος Σαμ
- μπάρμπα-Σαμ (bármpa-Sam)personification of the United States federal government or citizens
- Θείος Σαμ (Theíos Sam)personification of the United States federal government or citizens
Icelandic Sámur frændi
- Sámur frændipersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Indonesian Paman Sam
- Paman Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Italian Zio Sam
- Zio Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Japanese アンクル・サム
- アンクル・サム (Ankuru-Samu)personification of the United States federal government or citizens
Korean 엉클 샘
- 엉클 샘 (Eongkeul Saem)personification of the United States federal government or citizens
Latvian Tēvocis Sems
- Tēvocis Semspersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Lithuanian dėdė Semas
- dėdė Semaspersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Malay Pakcik Sam
- Pakcik Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Polish Wuj Sam
- Wuj Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Portuguese Tio Sam
- Tio Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Russian дя́дя Сэм
- дя́дя Сэм (djádja Sɛm)personification of the United States federal government or citizens
Spanish Tío Sam
- Tío Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Swedish Onkel Sam
- Onkel Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Thai ลุงแซม
- ลุงแซมpersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Turkish Sam Amca
- Sam Amcapersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Ukrainian Дядько Сем
- Дядько Сем (Djadʹko Sem)personification of the United States federal government or citizens
Vietnamese Chú Sam
- Chú Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Welsh Wncl Sam
- Wncl Sampersonification of the United States federal government or citizens
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Uncle Sam
All rhymes →Cite this entry
Uncle Sam. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Uncle%20Sam
“Uncle Sam.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Uncle%20Sam. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Uncle Sam,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Uncle%20Sam.
Source: Uncle Sam on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.