tom

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an abbreviation of tome or volume in older bibliographic citations, especially citations to French works

   The footnote directs the reader to tom. iii of the collected works.

2. 2
   noun

   a male cat, especially one that has not been neutered

   The old tom guarded the barn from unfamiliar cats.

3. 3
   noun

   a male turkey or, less commonly, a male of certain other animals

   The wild tom spread his tail feathers during courtship.

The animal term uses the common male name Tom generically, as in tomcat. The bibliographic abbreviation has a separate source: French tome ("volume"), ultimately from Latin tomus and Greek tomos ("section, volume").

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