Etymograph

English

scam

Scam may come from English scamp ‘swindler, cheater’.

  1. English1500–presentscamp1‘swindler, cheater’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2005scam1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English scam
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2005, Robert Antoni, Carnival: “His friend nudged me. "It's true. JJ only scams…”.

Lineage

  1. English1500–presentscampWiktionary, English scam‘swindler, cheater’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2005scamWiktionary, English scam. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2005, Robert Antoni, Carnival: “His friend nudged me. "It's true. JJ only scams…”

The story

Also possibly from Danish skam; if so, it would be a doublet of shame and sham. First use appears c. 1963 in the periodical Time. The word became common use among the US drug culture when in early 1980, after Operation ABSCAM, an FBI sting operation directed at public officials, became public.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from English scamp

Today it means

noun A fraudulent or dishonest deal. A swindle.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “scam”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / English scamp / scam

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