tome

1 of 2

noun

ˈtōm 

1

: book

especially : a large or scholarly book

2

: a volume forming part of a larger work

-tome

2 of 2

noun combining form

1

: part : segment

myotome

2

: cutting instrument

microtome

Synonyms

Noun

• book
• volume

Examples of tome in a Sentence

Noun

a long tome on European history

picked up a thick tome on the Roman Empire at a used book store

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Co-authoring a tome with Patterson has become something of a status symbol among a certain A-list milieu; unsurprisingly, he’s been flooded with offers. —Benjamin Svetkey, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Oct. 2024

There’s a cavernous sublevel housing the Radical Media Archive, which houses more than 2,000 rare and historical books, magazines and posters from the counterculture era of the ’50s to the ’80s, as well as contemporary tomes on graphic designs and photography. —Rhonda Richford, WWD, 21 Oct. 2024

Painted the shade of Coca-Cola, a brooding burgundy-brown that pops against the English mahogany table’s white chairs, they are lined with tomes that peek through ornate metal screens. —Alia Akkam, Architectural Digest, 11 Sep. 2024

The young boy’s father replaced his son’s rudimentary mammal book with a more comprehensive tome by J.G. Wood, an English author of popular volumes on natural history. —Peter Zablocki, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin tomus, from Greek tomos section, roll of papyrus, tome, from temnein to cut; akin to Middle Irish tamnaid he lops, Polish ciąć to cut, and perhaps to Latin tondēre to shear

Noun combining form

Greek tomos

First Known Use

Noun

1519, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

tome

noun

ˈtōm 

: a big thick book