Etymologically
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tummy

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Pronunciation

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

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)