Etymograph

English

toma

Toma may come from French tome ‘kind of mountain cheese’, from Latin tomus ‘slice, portion’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- ‘to cut’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temh₁-1‘to cut’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tm̥-né-h₁-ti1uncertain
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτέμνω2témnō‘to cut, separate’uncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτόμος2‘section, roll of papyrus, volume’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtomus3‘slice, portion’uncertain
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presenttome3‘kind of mountain cheese’uncertain
  7. Italianc. 1300–presenttoma4
  8. Englishtodaytoma4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin tomus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Italian toma
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English toma

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνω‘to cut’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tm̥-né-h₁-tiWiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνωuncertain
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτέμνωWiktionary, Latin tomustémnō‘to cut, separate’uncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτόμοςWiktionary, Latin tomus‘section, roll of papyrus, volume’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtomusWiktionary, Italian toma‘slice, portion’uncertain
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presenttomeWiktionary, Italian toma‘kind of mountain cheese’uncertain
  7. Italianc. 1300–presenttomaWiktionary, English toma
  8. EnglishtodaytomaWiktionary, English toma

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- ‘to cut’

contempt, templar, tempestuous, 35 more

through Ancient Greek τέμνω ‘to cut, separate’

atom, epitome, dichotomous, 31 more

through Latin tomus ‘slice, portion’

tome

Today it means

noun A semi-hard Italian cheese from Piedmont

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “toma”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek τέμνω, Latin tomus, Italian toma. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- / toma

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