tom

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tɒm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /tɑm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒm

Etymology 1

From generic use of the proper name Tom.

Noun

tom (plural toms)

1. The intact male of the domesticated cat.
2. The male of the turkey.
3. The male of the orangutan.
4. The male of certain other animals.
5. (UK, slang, dated) A female prostitute.
6. (US, slang) A lesbian.
7. (music) Clipping of tom-tom.
8. (obsolete) The jack of trumps in the card game gleek.
9. (UK, regional, obsolete) A close-stool.

Synonyms

• (male cat): tomcat, he-cat
• (male turkey): turkey-cock
• (male of other animals): male
• (prostitute): See also Thesaurus:prostitute

Coordinate terms

(intact male cat):

• gib
• queen

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Shortened from tomato

Noun

tom (plural toms)

1. (British, greengrocers' slang) A tomato (the fruit).

   Toms 90p a pound

   • 2009, Mark Penny, Jonathan Penny, The Golden Pig, page 160:

     “I'd like sausage, eggs, bacon, toms, mushies, beans – oh, and some fried bread,” said Mike.

Etymology 3

Rhyming slang from tomfoolery.

Noun

tom (uncountable)

1. (Cockney rhyming slang) jewellery

Etymology 4

From Uncle Tom.

Verb

tom (third-person singular simple present toms, present participle tomming, simple past and past participle tommed)

1. (intransitive, derogatory, of a black person) To act in an obsequiously servile manner toward white authority.

Etymology 5

Verb

tom (third-person singular simple present toms, present participle tomming, simple past and past participle tommed)

1. (nautical) To dig out a hole below the hatch cover of a bulker and fill it with cargo or weights to aid stability.

See also

Anagrams

• MOT, Mot, OMT, OTM, TMO, mot

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Pronoun

tom

1. locative masculine/neuter singular of ten

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse tómr, from Proto-Germanic *tōmaz (“empty”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -ɒm

Adjective

tom (neuter tomt, plural and definite singular attributive tomme)

1. empty

References

• “tom” in Den Danske Ordbog

Finnish

Etymology

From English tom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtom/,
• Rhymes: -om
• Syllabification^(key): tom

Noun

tom

1. (music) tom, tom-tom (percussion instrument)

Declension

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /t̪ˠoumˠ/
• (Galway) IPA^(key): /t̪ˠuːmˠ/
• (Mayo) IPA^(key): /t̪ˠʊmˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /t̪ˠʌmˠ/

Etymology 1

From Middle Irish tomm (“bush, tuft; hillock, knoll”), from Proto-Indo-European *tum- (“mound”).

Noun

tom m (genitive singular toim, nominative plural toim or tomacha)

1. bush, shrub

   Synonym: tor

2. clump, tuft, tussock

   Synonym: tortóg

Declension

• Alternative plural: tomacha (Connacht, Ulster)

Derived terms

• tomach (“bushy; tufted”)

Etymology 2

Noun

tom m (genitive singular toma, nominative plural tomanna)

1. Alternative form of taom (“fit, paroxysm”)

Declension

Etymology 3

Verb

tom (present analytic tomann, future analytic tomfaidh, verbal noun tomadh, past participle tomtha)

1. Alternative form of tum (“dip, immerse”)

Conjugation

Mutation

References

Javanese

Etymology

From Old Javanese tom, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taʀum.

Noun

tom

1. indigo (plant)

Descendants

• → Ternate: tom

Further reading

• The Linguistic Center of Yogyakarta (2015) “tom”, in Kamus Basa Jawa (Bausastra Jawa) [Javanese Language Dictionary (Javanese Dictionary)] (in Javanese), Yogyakarta: Kanisius, →ISBN

Komo

Noun

tom

1. spear

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Determiner

tom

1. locative masculine/neuter singular of ten

Maranao

Noun

tom

1. human body louse

Middle English

Etymology 1

Adjective

tom

1. Alternative form of tome (“empty”)

Etymology 2

Noun

tom (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of tome (“freetime”)

Etymology 3

Adjective

tom

1. (Southwest, southern West Midlands) Alternative form of tame (“tame”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse tómr.

Adjective

tom (neuter singular tomt, definite singular and plural tomme, comparative tommere, indefinite superlative tommest, definite superlative tommeste)

1. empty

Derived terms

• halvtom
• tomflaske
• tomhet

Related terms

• tømme

References

• “tom” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse tómr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʊmː/

Adjective

tom (neuter singular tomt, definite singular and plural tomme, comparative tommare, indefinite superlative tommast, definite superlative tommaste)

1. empty

Derived terms

• halvtom
• tomflaske

Related terms

• tømme, tømma

Etymology 2

From Old Norse taumr.

Noun

tom m (definite singular tommen, indefinite plural tommar, definite plural tommane)

1. Alternative form of taum; (pre-2012) alternative form of taum

Derived terms

• fortom

References

• “tom” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• mot, t.o.m.

Oksapmin

Noun

tom

1. water

References

• Robyn Loughnane, A Grammar of Oksapmin (April 2009), page 58

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *tōmaz (“empty”). Akin to Old Norse tómr (“empty”), whence Icelandic tómur (“empty”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /toːm/

Adjective

tōm

1. empty
2. (figuratively) free from

   Ðæt hīe mōstun mānweorca tōme lifgan and tīres blǣd ēcne āgan.

   That they might live free from wicked works and own the eternal reward of glory.

Declension

Descendants

• Middle English: tome, tom, toume, tombe; toyme, tum, tume
  • English: toom
  • Scots: tume, tuim

Old Javanese

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taʀum.

Noun

tom

1. indigo (plant)

Descendants

• Javanese: tom
  • → Ternate: tom

References

• "tom" in P.J. Zoetmulder with the collaboration of S.O. Robson, Old Javanese-English Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1982.

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tomus, from Ancient Greek τόμος (tómos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

tom m inan (diminutive tomik, augmentative tomisko or tomiszcze)

1. volume (single book of a publication issued in multi-book format)

   Synonyms: wolumen, wolumin

Declension

Further reading

• tom in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• tom in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Probably a semi-learned borrowing from Latin tonus (and influenced by som; compare the Spanish ton, variant of the standard tono, which underwent a similar change, influenced by son, respectively), from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “tone”), from τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”). Cf. also trom, a possible doublet.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -õ
• Homophone: tão (Portugal, dialectal)
• Hyphenation: tom

Noun

tom m (plural tons)

1. tone or pitch (property of sound determined by the frequency)
2. (music) tone (interval of a major second)
3. (music) key

See also

• trom

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French tome, from Latin tomus.

Noun

tom n (plural tomuri)

1. volume

Declension

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish tom (“bush, tuft; hillock, knoll”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t̪ʰɔum/

Noun

tom m (genitive singular tuim, plural toman or tomannan)

1. round hillock or knoll, rising ground, swell, green eminence
2. any round heap
3. tuft of anything
4. bush, thicket
5. anthill
6. (Islay) stool
7. volume of a book
8. bank
9. grave
10. (medicine, rare) the plague
11. conical knoll

Slovene

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tóːm/

Noun

tọ̑m m inan

1. tome

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

See also

• zvézek

Further reading

• “tom”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Swedish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse tómr.

Pronunciation

• (Sweden) IPA^(key): /tum/

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

tom (comparative tommare, superlative tommast)

1. empty

   tomma tunnor skramlar mest

   empty barrels make the most noise (those who complain most vigorously, are the least important)

Declension

Antonyms

• full

Related terms

Etymology 2

Used in Swedish since 1697. From French tome, Latin tomus (“section of larger work”), from Ancient Greek τόμος (tómos, “section, roll of papyrus, volume”), from τέμνω (témnō, “I cut, separate”). Cognate with English tome.

Pronunciation

• (Sweden) IPA^(key): /toːm/

Noun

tom c

1. A tome, a volume (in a series of books), a (thick) book.

Declension

Derived terms

• tomtals

References

• tom in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• tom in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• mot

Ternate

Etymology

From Javanese ꦠꦺꦴꦩ꧀ (tom), from Old Javanese tom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tom/

Noun

tom (Jawi توم)

1. indigo (Indigofera tinctoria)

References

• Frederik Sigismund Alexander de Clercq (1890) Bijdragen tot de kennis der Residentie Ternate, E.J. Brill
• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Welsh

Etymology

Probably from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”). Compare Middle Irish tomm (“clump, hill”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɔm/
• Rhymes: -ɔm

Noun

tom m or f (plural tomau)

1. dung, excrement, faeces

   Synonym: cach

2. manure, compost
3. filth, muck, mire

Derived terms

• tomen (“dunghill”)

Mutation

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “tom”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

White Hmong

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɒ˩̰/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *dəp (“to bite”); compare Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ketep (“id”), whence Indonesian ketip (“dime, dite”).

Verb

tom

1. to bite

Etymology 2

Preposition

tom

1. at, there (nearby)

References

• Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary‎, SEAP Publications, →ISBN, pages 322-3.

Zuni

Pronoun

tom

1. Second person singular possessive (medial position)

   your

2. Second person singular object

   you

Related terms

• to'
• tomma