Kham

See also: kham, khảm, and khăm

English

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

Kham

The three traditional regions of Tibet.

1. A region of Tibet covering a land area largely divided between present-day Tibet Autonomous Region and Sichuan province, with smaller portions located within Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan provinces of China.
   • 1996, Whitney Stewart, “The Chinese Takeover”, in The 14th Dalai Lama: Spiritual Leader of Tibet‎^[1], Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 86:

     In the summer of 1956, Chinese troops bombed a large monastery in the eastern Kham region. The Chinese had begun to destroy the religious and cultural artifacts of Tibet.

   • 2008 August 21, “China to crack down on use of leanness enhancers in cattle and sheep”, in Reuters‎^[2], archived from the original on 17 May 2022, Top News‎^[3]:

     The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader told the French newspaper Le Monde that the army opened fire during a protest in the eastern Tibetan region of Kham on Monday. […]
     “We know about disturbances in the Kham region. But we do not have any details or figures about injuries or deaths,” said the aide, Chhime Chhoekyapa, in the northern town of Dharamsala. […]
     “The military presence in Tibet is old, but the frenzy of new construction in the Amdo and Kham regions makes me say that this colonisation by the army is designed to last,” he said.

   • 2011 February 23, Adrienne Woltersdorf (sb), “Tibetans searching for a future beyond the Dalai Lama”, in Thomas Baerthlein, editor, Deutsche Welle‎^[4], archived from the original on May 25, 2021, Asia‎^[5]:

     For Samdhong Rinpoche, this tour around the world is also his last trip as PM, now that his term is over and cannot be extended. He has decided to take his future after March 20 as it comes. If he could do what he wanted, he would go back to his home monastery in Kham, where he has not returned since 1959 and where he used to sit under the trees and meditate as a young man. He said, "they are wonderful and they are still standing."

Translations

region of Tibet

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 康區／康区 (zh) (Kāngqū)

• Russian: Кам (ru) m (Kam), Кхам m (Kxam)
• Tibetan: ཁམས་ (khams)

See also

• Amdo
• Ü-Tsang

Etymology 2

Of Lao origin.

Proper noun

Kham (plural Khams)

1. A surname from Lao.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Kham is the 38155^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 581 individuals. Kham is most common among Asian/Pacific Islander (86.4%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Kham”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 299.
• Kham, Kam at Google Ngram Viewer
• Saul B. Cohen, editor (1998), “Kham”, in The Columbia Gazetteer of the World‎^[6], volume 2, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 1545, column 3: “Sometimes spelled Kam.”

Anagrams

• HKMA