butter-ham

Northern English/bʊtəɹam/

noun

A slice of buttered bread.

Meanings

nounbutter-ham (plural butter-hams)

plural butter-hams

  1. 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 107
    1 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
  2. archaicOne of two strips of trim on either side of a cloak.

    A cloak, half a yard shorter than the Breeches, not through lin'd, but fac'd as far as 'twas turned back, with a pair of frugal butter-hams.

    2003, Cynthia Lowenthal, Performing Identities on the Restoration Stage, →ISBN, page 89
  3. NorthYorkshirea person who is overly ostentatious in their dress or actions.

Origin

  1. Dutchboterham
  2. Englishbutter-ham

From butter + ham, a calque of Dutch boterham.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

butter-ham. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/butter-ham

MLA

“butter-ham.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/butter-ham. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

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.