tomboy

Etymology

It is a compound from English Tom + boy,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the first element being the pet form of the man's name Thomas, recorded in Britain from the 13th century.^[2] Ayto takes Tom as standing for maleness, here typical male boisterousness.^[7] Etymonline compares tomrig, a rude, wild girl.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A brash, boisterous youth: before 1556, in Nicholas Udall's comedy Ralph Roister Doister.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1550s in the sense "rude, boisterous boy".^[3]

Semantic evolution

Ayto notes that the word first meant a rude or boisterous boy, but was applied before the end of the 16th century to a girl who behaved like one.^[7] The OED records first a sense "a forward, immodest woman" (1566–1699), which Merriam-Webster Unabridged glosses as strumpet,^[2][8] and Chambers marks the sense "an immodest woman" as Shakespeare's.^[9] Etymonline dates the sense "wild, romping girl" to the 1590s,^[3] while the OED's first quotation for it is from Blount's Glossographia (1656).^[2] The OED's last record of the boyish sense is from 1776.^[2] Johnson (1755) still gave both, "a mean fellow" and "sometimes a wild coarse girl".^[10] The word has been used as an adjective since 1657.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1556 – a brash, boisterous youth (obsolete by 1776).^[2][3]
• 1566 – a forward, immodest or unchaste woman (obsolete by 1699).^[2][8]
• 1590s – a girl who behaves like a lively boy.^[3] The OED first quotes this sense in 1656.^[2]
• 1657 – adjective, like a tomboy.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A girl who behaves or dresses in a way thought typical of boys, especially one who likes rough, energetic games: As a child she was a tomboy who spent every afternoon climbing trees.^{[11][8][2][12]}
2. (obsolete, 1556–1776) A rude, boisterous boy.^[2][12]
3. (obsolete, 1566–1699) A bold, immodest or unchaste woman.^[2][8][12]

Adjective

1. Typical of a tomboy; tomboyish.^[2]

Word family

• tomboyish
• tomboyishness
• tomboyishly

Related words

• Tom
• boy
• tomfool

Usage notes

Grammarphobia points out that Tom has long served, as in every Tom, Dick and Harry, as a name for any ordinary man.^[13] Brewer explained the word instead from tumbere, a dancer or tumbler, with boy as a corruption,^[14] an explanation the modern dictionaries do not follow.^[2][7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ O'Conner, Patricia T.; Kellerman, Stewart, The Grammarphobia Blog, grammarphobia.com, p. "Who is the Tom in tomboy?", 22 May 2010
14. ^ Brewer, E. Cobham (1898), Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, new ed., London: Cassell