Tom

A diminutive of the male given name Thomas, also used as a formal male given name.

Proper noun

  1. A diminutive of the male given name Thomas, also used as a formal male given name.
    • Poor Tom's a-cold. - 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,...
    • "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?" - 1876, Mark Twain...
    • 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...
  2. A nickname for a common man.

Origin

Etymology tree Aramaic תאמא Aramaic תאומאbor. Ancient Greek Θωμᾶς (Thōmâs)bor. Latin Thōmāsbor. Middle English Thomas Middle English Thomme English Tom From Middle English Thomme. Hypocorism of Thomas. The dollar-bill sense is from the portrait of Thomas Jefferson featured on it.

Forms

Toms

Derived

anti-Tom peeping tom Poor Tom Thompson Thomson tom Tom and Jerryish Tomarry tomboy tomcat Tom, Dick or Harry tomfoolery Tom Green County Tom Groggin tomjohn TomKat Tomkin Tomkins Tommo Tommy tomnoddy Tom of Bedlam Tom of Bedlam's man Tompson

Proper noun Entry 2

  1. A large, deep-toned bell, or a particularly notable example of one.
    • 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, William Chambers, Robert Chambers, “Something about bells”, in...
    • After these came innumerable little boys bearing little bells, which made little noises in comparison to the "Big Tom" that preceded them. - 1857, “An earthquake in Honduras”, in Harper's Magazine:
    • And there little Johnny Bell hung dangling along with the great Tom bell, and all the rest of the bells. - 1825, Moncrieff, "A Parish-Clerk was Johnny Bell", The Universal Songster (in a song about a man who hangs...

Origin

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.

Related

tom-tom

Noun abbreviation, alt of

  1. Ellipsis of Uncle Tom.
    • I thought it was nice for them [civil rights volunteers] to come in here. But they wasn’t welcome among white people. The black people welcomed them with open arms, but they wasn’t welcomed by the white people. And the...
  2. A United States two-dollar bill.
    • Toms: two-dollar bills bearing the portrait of President Thomas Jefferson - [1981, Ralph DeSola, Abbreviations Dictionary, expanded international 6th edition, New York, N.Y.: Elsevier, →ISBN, page 804, column 2:
    • The article on CNN.com says the Treasury has $96 million in $2s in their vaults. They are printing new ones just to assure a supply. The new ones will be 2003 series with the same design as now. Printing more will have...
    • In the past year I've spent over 2000 Toms with 90% used to well used. I have only seen a dozen or so with torn corners, almost always the upper left corner. - 2003 August 29, rhodo chrosite, “2 dollar bills”, in...

    Synonyms: Jefferson Thomas Jefferson

Forms

Toms

Noun euphemistic, uncountable

  1. Synonym of menstruation.
    • Sorry, maybe next week. Uncle Tom is visiting.
    • Maybe later. Tom is in town.

    Synonyms: menstruation

Origin

Variant of TOM (“time of the month”) influenced by the name.

Derived

curse of Tom