tomb

English

Etymology

From Middle English tombe, toumbe, borrowed from Old French tombe, from Latin tumba from Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “a sepulchral mound, tomb, grave”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”).

The verb is from Middle English tomben.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tuːm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /tum/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːm

Noun

tomb (plural tombs)

1. A small building (or "vault") for the remains of the dead, with walls, a roof, and (if it is to be used for more than one corpse) a door. It may be partly or wholly in the ground (except for its entrance) in a cemetery, or it may be inside a church proper or in its crypt. Single tombs may be permanently sealed; those for families (or other groups) have doors for access whenever needed.
2. A pit in which the dead body of a human being is deposited; a grave.
   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.

3. One who keeps secrets.
   • 1912, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, translated by Constance Garnett, The Brothers Karamazov, published 1880, Book III, chapter 4:

     I never told anyone about it. You're the first, except Ivan, of course—Ivan knows everything. He knew about it long before you. But Ivan's a tomb.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Irish: tuama
• → Maori: toma

Translations

Verb

tomb (third-person singular simple present tombs, present participle tombing, simple past and past participle tombed)

1. (transitive) To bury.

Catalan

Etymology

Deverbal from tombar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian)
• Homophone: tom (Central)

Noun

tomb m (plural tombs)

1. turn (change of direction)
2. turn, twist (movement around an axis)
3. turn (change of temperament or circumstance)
4. walk, stroll

Derived terms

• tomballar
• venir a tomb

Further reading

• “tomb” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Middle English

Noun

tomb (plural tombes)

1. Alternative form of tombe (“tomb”)