Dictionary

toom en · ADJ · etymology 1

Etymology

From Middle English toom, tom, from Old English tōm (“empty”), from Proto-West Germanic *tōm(ī), from Proto-Germanic *tōm(ij)az (“free, available, empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *doma- (“to tame”), *dema- (“to build”). Cognate with Danish and Swedish tom (“empty, vacant”), Icelandic tómur (“empty”).

Meanings

1. (Northern-England, Scotland, dialectal, rare) Empty; bare.
   • Gin she was toom afore, she's toomer now, Her heart was like to loup out at her mou'. 1778, Alexander Ross, Fortunate Shepherdess, page 62:
   • She set down the bowl and breathed over it, "Be never toom." The woman lived to a great age, but never saw the bottom of the bowl. 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 163:
   • "You saw it was toom. The lamp had gone out itself, or else — what's that?" 1896, Scribner's Magazine, volume 20:
   • Then hie to the Custom House, add to your pleasures, Now you're well cover'd, so toom the new measures: It ne'er will be finish'd, I'll wager a groat, Till they've cut a canal te admit five-men boats! 1825, The Tyneside Songster:
   • Every time Gavin's cup went to his lips Nanny calculated (correctly) how much he had drunk, and yet, when the right moment arrived, she asked in the English voice that is fashionable at ceremonies, "if his cup was toom." 1895, James Matthew Barrie, The Little Minister, page 135:
   • It seemed to him that his soul had gone from him, and he was as toom as a hazel shell. 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
   • His tabard was 'toom' — bare or empty — and Balliol, the unmade king, became 'Toom Tabard'. 1974, Ranald Nicholson, Scotland: the later Middle Ages, page 50:
   • Bare is much better. 'When she got there, the cupboard was bare' does call up the distress of those with naked larders. 'The cupboard was empty' would not be poignant at all. But 'the cupboard was toom' would utter the voice of real despair. 1951, Ivor John Carnegie Brown, I break my word, page 120:

Forms

Deriveds

toomly · toom-handed

Synonyms

vacant · void · vacant · unfilled · empty as a pauper's purse · empty as the tomb on Easter · toom · vacuumlike · leer · vacuous · void · clean · empty

toom en · NOUN · etymology 1

Etymology

From Middle English toom, tom, from Old English tōm (“empty”), from Proto-West Germanic *tōm(ī), from Proto-Germanic *tōm(ij)az (“free, available, empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *doma- (“to tame”), *dema- (“to build”). Cognate with Danish and Swedish tom (“empty, vacant”), Icelandic tómur (“empty”).

Meanings

1. (Scottish) A piece of waste ground where rubbish is deposited.

Forms

toom en · VERB · etymology 1

Etymology

From Middle English toom, tom, from Old English tōm (“empty”), from Proto-West Germanic *tōm(ī), from Proto-Germanic *tōm(ij)az (“free, available, empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *doma- (“to tame”), *dema- (“to build”). Cognate with Danish and Swedish tom (“empty, vacant”), Icelandic tómur (“empty”).

Meanings

1. (dialectal, rare) To empty; teem.

Forms

toom en · NOUN · etymology 2

Etymology

From Middle English toom, tome, tom, from Old Norse tóm (“vacant time, leisure”), from Proto-Germanic *tōmą (“vacant time, leisure”). Related to Old Norse tómr (“vacant, empty”).

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) Vacant time, leisure.
   • He had exhausted Bath, but his connections and introductions made the transition easy. There was toom for two in the capital. 1978, Art and Artists:

Forms