-hám

m. 'The Latin word which appears most nearly to translate it is vicus, and it seems to be identical in form with the Greek κώμη. In this sense it is the general assemblage of the dwellings in each particular district, to which the arable land and pasture of the community were appurtenant, the home of all the settlers in a separate and well defined locality, the collection of the houses of the freemen. Whenever we can assure ourselves that the vowel is long, we may be certain that the name implies such a village or community,' Cod. Dipl. Kmbl. iii. xxviii-ix. The distinction between -ham and -hám seems to have been lost before the Norman Conquest, as in the Chronicle one MS. has tó Buccingahamme, another tó Buccingahám, 918; Th. i. 190, col. 1, 2, l. 21. [Icel. -heimr, e.g. Álf-heimr the abode of the elves: O. H. Ger. -heim.] ham,-ham