Meanings
plural butter-hams
- obsoleteA slice of buttered bread.
Give me a butterham, with flesh, and a half-bottle wine.
1871, Lewis Baxter Monroe, Public and Parlor Readings, page 1071 more example
Faith, I was within ams-ace of being found out ; for one night at a mum-house, where I was eating a butter-ham and pickled herrings, with some of the states, and where I was giving my self airs of greatness and interest in my country, swearing I myself would take care that my country, and three counties round about me, should choose none but hearty Whigs.
1771, Charles Davenant, Charles Whitworth, The Political And Commercial Works, page 240 - NorthYorkshirea person who is overly ostentatious in their dress or actions.
Origin
- Dutchboterham
- Englishbutter-ham
From butter + ham, a calque of Dutch boterham.
More words from Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
butter-ham. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/butter-ham
“butter-ham.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/butter-ham. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “butter-ham,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/butter-ham.
Source: butter-ham on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.