The story
From bottle (from the shape of its nest) + the common given name Tom.
First known use, by meaning
- 19th-20th c. Synonym of long-tailed tit, Aegithalos caudatus.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
bottle-tom
Today it means: Synonym of long-tailed tit, Aegithalos caudatus. Full definition →
First used 19th-20th c.