tomb

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tuːm/ (UK); /tum/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tumbe, borrowed from Anglo-Norman tumbe (Old French tombe (“tomb, monument”)),^[2][3] from Late Latin tumba (“burial mound”),^[3][4] from Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “mound, burial mound, tomb”).^[2][3][5] Watkins suggests the root Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”) (compare thumb),^[3][4] but Beekes considers it probably a Pre-Greek word, perhaps also in Latin tumulus and Old Armenian թումբ (tʻumb).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A place of burial or a monument over it: about 1200 in Etymonline, probably before 1200 (tumbe) in Layamon's Brut in Barnhart; the OED's first quotation is from about 1275.^[3][2][6] The spelling tomb is from the early 14th century (before 1325, in Cursor Mundi).^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The spelling tomb never exactly matched the spoken word, and the b became silent about the time of the spelling change, as in lamb and dumb.^[3][2] A monument over a burial is from about 1290.^[6] The tomb as a figure for death or the end of earthly life is from the 1550s.^[3][6] The verb, to put in a tomb, is from about 1300.^[2][6] The Tombs, slang for a New York City prison, is from 1840.^[3][6] Tombstone is from 1565.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – tumbe.^[3][2]
• c. 1290 – a monument.^[6]
• before 1325 – the spelling tomb.^[2]
• 1550s – figurative, death.^[3]
• 1565 – tombstone.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A grave or place of burial, especially a vault or chamber for the dead.
2. A monument in memory of the dead.
3. The tomb: (poetic) death.

Verb

1. (rare) To place in a tomb; to entomb.

Word family

• tombless
• tombal
• tomblike
• disentomb
• entomb
• tombstone
• beehive tomb
• chamber tomb

Related words

• tumulus
• thumb
• tumour

Usage notes

Modern French tombeau is from a Vulgar Latin diminutive *tumbellus.^[3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press