tomte

English

Etymology

From Swedish tomte.

Noun

tomte (plural tomtes)

1. A small human-like creature in Nordic folklore that lives on farmsteads and watches over their inhabitants.
   • 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 147:

     In Sweden the Tomte is sometimes seen at noon, in summer, slowly and stealthily dragging a straw or an ear of corn. [...] Any one who treated the industrious Tomte with respect, and set store by the smallest straw, became rich, and neatness and regularity prevailed in his household.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From tomt, from Old Norse tompt. Doublet of tufte and tofte (“the oldest man on a farm”). Cognate with Swedish tomte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [²tu̞mtə], [²tɞ̞mtə]

Noun

tomte m (definite singular tomten, indefinite plural tomtar, definite plural tomtane)

1. (folklore, chiefly Eastern Norwegian) synonym of tufte

Derived terms

• tomtegubbe
• tomtekall
• tomtekar

Swedish

Etymology

Attested since 1790 according to Svenska Akademiens ordbok. An elliptic form of tomtebisse or tomtegubbe with the same meaning. Derived from tomt (“site; lot; garden”). The association between the mythological creature and Santa Claus had its origins in the 19th century (first attestation is from 1864) and was firmly established in the middle of the 20th century. Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk tomte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɔmˌte/

Noun

tomte c

1. (folklore) A small human-like creature in Nordic folklore that lives on farmsteads and watches over their inhabitants; a brownie, a gnome.

   Om tomten inte får en klick smör i sin julgröt kan han bli arg och göra stor skada.

   If the house gnome doesn’t get a dab of butter in his Christmas porridge, he might get angry and do great harm.

   Månen vandrar sin tysta ban' [bana – not a common shortening otherwise], snön lyser vit på fur och gran. Snön lyser vit på taken. Endast tomten är vaken.

   The moon wanders its silent course, the snow shines white on pine and spruce. The snow shines white on the roofs. Only the tomte is awake. [from the poem Tomten by Viktor Rydberg]

2. (usually in the definite form "tomten") Santa Claus

   Synonyms: jultomte, tomtefar

   Moster Agneta klädde ut sig till tomte och delade ut klappar till barnen.

   Aunt Agneta dressed up as Santa and handed out presents to the children.

3. (colloquial, derogatory) A person who behaves irresponsibly, oddly or incompetently.

   Vad är det för tomte som har slängt mina kläder i snön?

   What kind of fool threw my clothes in the snow?

4. (colloquial, especially in compound nouns) A person that diligently tends to practical matters.

   Din man är en riktig hustomte när han snickrar på möbler.

   Your husband is a real busy bee when he does woodworking on furniture.

Declension

Declension of tomte

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	tomte	tomtes
	definite	tomten	tomtens
plural	indefinite	tomtar	tomtars
	definite	tomtarna	tomtarnas

Synonyms

• (folklore creature): gårdstomte, hustomte, nisse, tomtegubbe, tomtebisse, (often one of Santa’s helpers in modern times) tomtenisse
• (Santa Claus): jultomte

Derived terms

• ha tomtar på loftet (“to be crazy”)
• tomta
• tomtegröt

See also

• väsen

References

• tomte in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• tomte in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• tomte in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Further reading

• Nisse (folklore) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• motet