tome

1 of 2

noun

ˈtōm 

1

: book

especially : a large or scholarly book

2

: a volume forming part of a larger work

-tome

2 of 2

noun combining form

1

: part : segment

myotome

2

: cutting instrument

microtome

Synonyms

Noun

• book
• paperback

Examples of tome in a Sentence

Noun

a long tome on European history

picked up a thick tome on the Roman Empire at a used book store

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Instead, deaf viewers see unsynchronized plain white text on a black background and it is left to their imagination to infer those rich and nuanced character tomes essential for storytelling that hearing audiences take for granted. —Gus Alexiou, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025

There are 10 tomes in the Eerie Elementary early chapter book series for newly independent readers, published by Scholastic between 2014 and 2019. —Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 9 Sep. 2025

Spread across nearly 500 pages, the tome revisits a collection of exceptional tours published during Astley’s nearly decade-long tenure. —Katherine McLaughlin, Architectural Digest, 9 Sep. 2025

Below, a few of the fun facts Sheen reveals in the delightfully juicy tome. —Gillian Telling, PEOPLE, 9 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin tomus, from Greek tomos section, roll of papyrus, tome, from temnein to cut; akin to Middle Irish tamnaid he lops, Polish ciąć to cut, and perhaps to Latin tondēre to shear

Noun combining form

Greek tomos

First Known Use

Noun

1519, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for tome

• brome
• chrome
• comb
• combe
• crome
• dome
• acrosome
• aerodrome
• catacomb
• centrosome
• chromosome
• cytochrome

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Kids Definition

tome

noun

ˈtōm 

: a big thick book