English Online Dictionary. What means tom? What does tom mean?
Translingual
Symbol
tom
- (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Tombulu.
See also
- Wiktionary’s coverage of Tombulu terms
English
Pronunciation
- (British) IPA(key): /tɒm/
- (US) IPA(key): /tɑm/
- Rhymes: -ɒm
Etymology 1
From generic use of the proper name Tom.
Noun
tom (plural toms)
- The male of the domesticated cat, especially if not neutered.
- The male of the turkey.
- The male of the orangutan.
- The male of certain other animals.
- (UK, slang, dated) A female prostitute.
- (US, slang) A lesbian.
- (music) Clipping of tom-tom.
- (obsolete) The jack of trumps in the card game gleek.
- (UK, regional, obsolete) A close-stool.
Synonyms
- (male cat): tomcat, he-cat
- (male turkey): turkeycock
- (male of other animals): male, buck, stag
- (prostitute): See also Thesaurus:prostitute
Coordinate terms
(intact male cat):
- gib
- queen
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
Shortened from tomato
Noun
tom (plural toms)
- (British, greengrocers' slang) A tomato (the fruit).
- Toms 90p a pound
Etymology 3
Rhyming slang from tomfoolery.
Noun
tom (uncountable)
- (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)
- (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)
- (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): [ˈtom]
Pronoun
tom
- locative masculine/neuter singular of ten
Danish
Etymology
From Old Norse tómr, from Proto-Germanic *tōmaz (“empty”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈtˢʌmˀ]
- Rhymes: -ɒm
Adjective
tom (neuter tomt, plural and definite singular attributive tomme)
- empty
Declension
Derived terms
References
- “tom” in Den Danske Ordbog
Finnish
Etymology
From English tom.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtom/, [ˈt̪o̞m]
- Rhymes: -om
- Syllabification(key): tom
- Hyphenation(key): tom
Noun
tom
- (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)
- bush, shrub
- Synonym: tor
- 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)
- alternative form of taom (“fit, paroxysm”)
Declension
Etymology 3
Verb
tom (present analytic tomann, future analytic tomfaidh, verbal noun tomadh, past participle tomtha)
- alternative form of tum (“dip, immerse”)
Conjugation
Mutation
References
Javanese
Etymology
From Old Javanese tom, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taʀum.
Noun
tom
- indigo (plant)
Descendants
- → Ternate: tom
Further reading
- The Linguistic Center of Yogyakarta (2011) “tom”, in Kamus Basa Jawa (Bausastra Jawa) [Javanese Language Dictionary (Javanese Dictionary)] (in Javanese), 2nd edition, Yogyakarta: Kanisius, →ISBN
Komo
Noun
tom
- spear
Lower Sorbian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [tɔm]
Determiner
tom
- locative masculine/neuter singular of ten
Maranao
Noun
tom
- human body louse
Middle English
Etymology 1
Adjective
tom
- alternative form of tome (“empty”)
Etymology 2
Noun
tom (uncountable)
- alternative form of tome (“freetime”)
Etymology 3
Adjective
tom
- (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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- empty
- (figuratively) free from
Declension
Descendants
- Middle English: tome, tom, toume, tombe, toyme, tum, tume (Northern)
- English: toom
- Scots: tume, tuim
Old Javanese
Etymology
From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taʀum.
Noun
tom
- 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
Learned borrowing from Latin tomus, from Ancient Greek τόμος (tómos).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtɔm/
- Rhymes: -ɔm
- Syllabification: tom
Noun
tom m inan (diminutive tomik, augmentative tomisko or tomiszcze)
- 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)
- tone; pitch (property of sound determined by the frequency)
- tone (shade or quality of a colour)
- tone (manner in which speech or writing is expressed)
- (music) tone (interval of a major second)
- (music) key
See also
- trom
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French tome, from Latin tomus.
Noun
tom n (plural tomuri)
- 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)
- round hillock or knoll, rising ground, swell, green eminence
- any round heap
- tuft of anything
- bush, thicket
- anthill
- (Islay) stool
- volume of a book
- bank
- grave
- (medicine, rare) the plague
- conical knoll
Slovene
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tóːm/
Noun
tọ̑m m inan
- tome
Declension
See also
- zvézek
Further reading
- “tom”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025
Swedish
Etymology 1
From Old Norse tómr.
Pronunciation
- (Sweden) IPA(key): /tum/
Adjective
tom (comparative tommare, superlative tommast)
- empty
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
- 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, from Proto-Malayic *tarum.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tom/
Noun
tom (Jawi توم)
- 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)
- dung, excrement, faeces
- Synonym: cach
- manure, compost
- filth, muck, mire
Derived terms
- tomen (“dunghill”)
- tomi (“to spread dung”)
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
- to bite
Etymology 2
Preposition
tom
- at, there (nearby)
References
- Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary[1], SEAP Publications, →ISBN, pages 322-3.
Zuni
Pronoun
tom
- Second person singular possessive (medial position)
- your
- Second person singular object
- you
Related terms
- to'
- tomma