tummy

Etymology

It is a childish alteration of stomach,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} partly a euphemism, with the suffix -y.^[8][2] Stomach itself came through Old French estomac and Latin stomachus from Ancient Greek στόμαχος (stómakhos, “throat, gullet”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The stomach or intestine: 1867, in a piece by W. S. Gilbert in Fun.^[2][9][4]

Semantic evolution

The word began in the nursery and is still informal.^[10][11] Gilbert used it again in the Bab Ballads (1869), of a man with a pain in his "little tummy".^[12] Tummy-ache is recorded from 1874.^[9] From 1888, in Kipling, tummy was also a stomach upset, and with a place name in front, the diarrhoea that visitors to that place suffer.^[2][10] Later compounds include tummy button, the navel, and tummy tuck, a cosmetic operation that removes fat from the abdomen.^[10]

Timeline

• 1867 – the stomach, in W. S. Gilbert.^[2][9][4]
• 1869 – in Gilbert's Bab Ballads.^[12]
• 1874 – tummy-ache.^[9]
• 1888 – an abdominal complaint, in Kipling.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (informal, especially in speaking to children) The stomach or belly: The puppy rolled over to have its tummy scratched.^[11][4][2]
2. An upset stomach or abdominal complaint, especially one suffered by visitors to a named place.^[2][10]

Word family

• tum
• tummy tuck

Related words

• stomach

Usage notes

Wright's English Dialect Dictionary records a separate Lancashire tummy, a slight hump between the shoulders (1868).^[13]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)