Etymograph

English

tomos

Tomos comes from Ancient Greek τόμος ‘section, roll of papyrus, volume’, from τέμνω ‘to cut, separate’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *temh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temh₁-1‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tm̥-né-h₁-ti1reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτέμνω2témnō‘to cut, separate’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτόμος2tómos‘section, roll of papyrus, volume’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2018tomos2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English tomos
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018: “According to the Patriarch, once UOC is granted the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνω‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tm̥-né-h₁-tiWiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνωreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτέμνωWiktionary, English tomostémnō‘to cut, separate’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτόμοςWiktionary, English tomostómos‘section, roll of papyrus, volume’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2018tomosWiktionary, English tomos. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018: “According to the Patriarch, once UOC is granted the…”

Linked words

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

contempt, templar, tempestuous, 34 more

through Ancient Greek τέμνω ‘to cut, separate’

atom, epitome, dichotomous, 30 more

through Ancient Greek τόμος ‘section, roll of papyrus, volume’

tome, toma, 2 more

Today it means

noun An ecclesiastical document, usually promulgated by a synod which communicates or announces important information.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tomos”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek τέμνω. 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- / tomos

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