Tom

See also: Appendix:Variations of "tom"

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /tɒm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /tɑm/
• Rhymes: -ɒm

Etymology 1

From Middle English Thomme. Hypocorism of Thomas.

Proper noun

Tom

1. A diminutive of the male given name Thomas, also used as a formal male given name.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:

     Poor Tom's a-cold.

   • 1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VI, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 70:

     "Good,—that's a whack. What's your name?"
     "Becky Thatcher. What's yours? Oh, I know. It's Thomas Sawyer."
     "That's the name they lick me by. I'm Tom when I'm good. You call me Tom, will you?"

   • 1934, P. G. Wodehouse, Right Ho, Jeeves:

     What I'm worrying about is what Tom says when he starts talking."
     "Uncle Tom?"
     "I wish there was something else you could call him except 'Uncle Tom'," said Aunt Dahlia a little testily. "Every time you do it, I expect to see him turn black and start playing the banjo."

   • 2008, David Park, The Truth Commissioner, →ISBN, page 366:

     "We're not sure - we were expecting a girl for some reason. But we're thinking of something simple like Tom."
     "Thomas?"
     "No, just Tom."

2. A nickname for a common man. [since 1377]

Derived terms

• peeping tom
• Poor Tom
• tom
• Tom and Jerryish
• tomboy
• tomcat
• Tom, Dick or Harry
• tomfoolery
• Tom Green County
• tomjohn
• Tommy
• tomnoddy
• Tom of Bedlam
• Tom of Bedlam's man
• Toms River
• Tom Tiddler's ground
• Tom Tug
• Uncle Tom

 

Descendants

• → Tokelauan: Toma

Translations

male diminutive

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 湯姆 / 汤姆 (zh) (tāngmǔ)

• Latvian: (transliteration) Toms m
• Maori: Tame

Etymology 2

Variant of TOM.

Noun

Tom (plural Toms)

1. (euphemistic, personification) Synonym of menstruation.

   Sorry, maybe next week. Uncle Tom is visiting.

   Maybe later. Tom is in town.

2. (uncommon) Ellipsis of Uncle Tom.

Derived terms

• curse of Tom

Etymology 3

Possibly onomatopoeia, conflated with the given name, given the practice of giving objects such as Big Ben human names. Alternatively, it may derive from an inscription on the old bell used as metal to make the Great Tom of Oxford in 1680: In Thomæ laude resono bim bom sine fraude.

Proper noun

Tom

1. A large, deep-toned bell, or a particularly notable example of one. [since 17th century]
   • 1857, William Chambers, Robert Chambers, “Something about bells”, in Chambers's Journal, volume 28, number 207, page 398:

     They had a thick rim, and when struck with pieces of wood, gave out a tone deeper than that of some of the Great Toms renowned in belldom.

   • 1857, “An earthquake in Honduras”, in Harper's Magazine:

     After these came innumerable little boys bearing little bells, which made little noises in comparison to the "Big Tom" that preceded them.

   • 1825, Moncrieff, "A Parish-Clerk was Johnny Bell", The Universal Songster (in a song about a man who hangs himself in the bell tower):

     And there little Johnny Bell hung dangling along with the great Tom bell, and all the rest of the bells.

   • 1848, “The book auction of New York”, in The Literary World:

     The city [New York] does not know a better auctioneer; the celebrated Tom Bell not ringing clearer.

Related terms

• tom-tom

Anagrams

• MOT, Mot, OMT, OTM, TMO, mot

Azerbaijani

Proper noun

Tom

1. a male given name from English

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English Tom.

Proper noun

Tom

1. a male given name from English

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Tom ?

1. a male given name

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English Tom.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Tom

1. a male given name from English

Norwegian

Etymology

From English Tom. Taken to regular use as a given name in Norway in the 20th century.

Proper noun

Tom

1. a male given name

Related terms

• Tomas
• Tommy

References

• Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, →ISBN
• [1] Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 15 517 males with the given name Tom living in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 1950s. Accessed on April 29th, 2011.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈtõ/

• Homophone: tom (Brazil)

Proper noun

Tom m

1. a diminutive of the male given name Antônio, equivalent to English Tony

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English Tom.

Proper noun

Tom c (genitive Toms)

1. a male given name from English

Anagrams

• mot