Meaning

noun meat cut from the thigh of a hog (usually smoked)

noun (Old Testament) son of Noah

noun a licensed amateur radio operator

originUncertain, though it is generally agreed upon that it first appeared in print around the 1880s. At least four theories persist: * It came naturally from the word amateur. Deemed likely by Hendrickson (1997), but then the question would be why it took so long to pop up. He rejects the folk etymology of Cockney slang hamateur because it originated in American English. * From the play Hamlet, where…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0