Meanings
proper noun
- A fairy-tale character who is the size of a person's thumb; the protagonist and hero of the fairy tale The History of Tom Thumb.
nounTom Thumb (plural Tom Thumbs)
plural Tom Thumbs
- EnglandSouthernAny of various low-growing wild plants, including meadow vetchling (Lathyrus pratense) and some species of trefoil.
How heavily they were treading on the orange and yellow faces of the Tom Thumbs scattered over the short green grass.
1916, Dorothy Richardson, Backwater - AustraliaA type of diminutive simple firecracker that explodes to give a loud noise.
Translations
Afrikaans Klein Duimpie
- Klein Duimpiethe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Arabic عُقْلَة الإِصْبَعِ
- عُقْلَة الإِصْبَعِthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Bulgarian Малечко Палечко
- Малечко Палечко (Malečko Palečko)the thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Catalan Polzet
- Polzetthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Czech Paleček
- Palečekthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Dutch Klein Duimpje
- Klein Duimpjethe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Esperanto Dikfingrulo
- Dikfingrulothe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Finnish Peukaloinen
- Peukaloinenthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
French Tom Pouce, Petit Poucet
- Tom Poucethe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
- Petit Poucetthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
German Däumling
- Däumlingthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Greek Κοντορεβιθούλης
- Κοντορεβιθούλης (Kontorevithoúlis)the thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Hungarian Hüvelyk Matyi, Babszem Jankó
- Hüvelyk Matyithe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
- Babszem Jankóthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Italian Pollicino
- Pollicinothe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Japanese 親指トム
- 親指トム (oyayubi Tomu)the thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Persian تام انگشتی, تام بندانگشتی
- تام انگشتی (tâm angošti)the thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
- تام بندانگشتی (tâm bandângošti)the thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Polish Tomcio Paluch, Paluszek
- Tomcio Paluchthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
- Paluszekthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Portuguese Polegarzinho, Pequeno Polegar
- Polegarzinhothe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
- Pequeno Polegarthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Romanian Tom Degețel
- Tom Degețelthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Russian Ма́льчик-с-па́льчик
- Ма́льчик-с-па́льчик (Málʹčik-s-pálʹčik)the thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Spanish Pulgarcito
- Pulgarcitothe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Swedish Tummeliten
- Tummelitenthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Turkish erkenek, erkecel
- erkenekthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
- erkecelthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
- erkeceythe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
- ernekthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
- irkenekthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
- irkeyelthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Welsh Bawd Bach
- Bawd Bachthe thumb-sized hero of a fairy tale
Cite this entry
APA
Tom Thumb. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tom%20Thumb
MLA
“Tom Thumb.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tom%20Thumb. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Tom Thumb,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tom%20Thumb.
Source: Tom Thumb on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.