tom

tom · noun¹

1. Aramaicתאמא
2. Aramaicתאומא (təʾōmā)
3. Ancient GreekΘωμᾶς (Thōmâs)
4. LatinThōmās
5. Middle EnglishThomas
6. Middle EnglishThomme
7. EnglishTom
8. English todaytom

From generic use of the proper name Tom.

tom · noun²

Shortened from tomato

tom · noun³

Rhyming slang from tomfoolery.

tom · verb⁴

From Uncle Tom.

Tom · proper noun, noun⁵

1. Aramaicתאמא
2. Aramaicתאומא (təʾōmā)
3. Ancient GreekΘωμᾶς (Thōmâs)
4. LatinThōmās
5. Middle EnglishThomas
6. Middle EnglishThomme
7. English todayTom

From Middle English Thomme. Hypocorism of Thomas. The dollar-bill sense is from the portrait of Thomas Jefferson featured on it.

Tom · noun⁶

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

Tom · proper noun⁷

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.

First known use, by meaning

• since 1377 A nickname for a common man.
• since 17th century A large, deep-toned bell, or a particularly notable example of one.