tam

See also: Appendix:Variations of "tam"

Languages (41)

Translingual • English

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Azerbaijani • Chewong • Crimean Tatar • Czech • Danish • Dutch • Ido • Italian • Kabyle • Kalkoti • Kashubian • Kwama • Latin • Latvian • Lithuanian • Lower Sorbian • Middle English • Mizo • Northern Kurdish • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old English • Old Polish • Oromo • Polish • Portuguese • Serbo-Croatian • Silesian • Slovak • Slovene • Swedish • Tashelhit • Tatar • Turkish • Upper Sorbian • Vietnamese • Welsh • Yimchungru Naga • Zazaki

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Tamil or Tamil தமிழ் (tamiḻ).

Symbol

tam

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Tamil.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Tamil terms

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tæm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Ellipsis of tam o'shanter.

Noun

tam (plural tams)

1. Clipping of tam o'shanter, a type of cap.
   • 1988 July 1, Bryan Miller, “A Gathering of Scots”, in Chicago Reader‎^[4]:

     Despite the blaze of sunshine, woolens were everywhere: tams, kilts, socks drawn up to knobby knees.

Etymology 2

From the Cantonese pronunciation of 擔 / 担.

Noun

tam (plural tams)

1. Synonym of picul, a unit of weight, particularly in Cantonese contexts.

See also

• nicky-tam
• qui tam
• som tam
• tam-tam

Anagrams

• AMT, ATM, MAT, MTA, Mat, Mat., TMA, amt, amt., atm, mat, mat.

Azerbaijani

Pronunciation

• Audio (Baku):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Arabic تَامّ (tāmm).

Adverb

tam

1. (of a task to be completed) done; finished; complete

   Mən kitabı hələ tam oxumamışam. ― I have not finished reading the book.

2. completely, really

   Mən bu məsələni tam başa düşmədim. ― I haven't really understood this issue.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Arabic طَعْم (ṭaʕm).

Noun

tam (definite accusative tamı, plural tamlar)

1. taste

   Synonym: dad

Declension

Declension of tam

	singular	plural
nominative	tam	tamlar
definite accusative	tamı	tamları
dative	tama	tamlara
locative	tamda	tamlarda
ablative	tamdan	tamlardan
definite genitive	tamın	tamların

Possessive forms of tam

	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	tamım	tamlarım
sənin (“your”)	tamın	tamların
onun (“his/her/its”)	tamı	tamları
bizim (“our”)	tamımız	tamlarımız
sizin (“your”)	tamınız	tamlarınız
onların (“their”)	tamı or tamları	tamları
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	tamımı	tamlarımı
sənin (“your”)	tamını	tamlarını
onun (“his/her/its”)	tamını	tamlarını
bizim (“our”)	tamımızı	tamlarımızı
sizin (“your”)	tamınızı	tamlarınızı
onların (“their”)	tamını or tamlarını	tamlarını
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	tamıma	tamlarıma
sənin (“your”)	tamına	tamlarına
onun (“his/her/its”)	tamına	tamlarına
bizim (“our”)	tamımıza	tamlarımıza
sizin (“your”)	tamınıza	tamlarınıza
onların (“their”)	tamına or tamlarına	tamlarına
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	tamımda	tamlarımda
sənin (“your”)	tamında	tamlarında
onun (“his/her/its”)	tamında	tamlarında
bizim (“our”)	tamımızda	tamlarımızda
sizin (“your”)	tamınızda	tamlarınızda
onların (“their”)	tamında or tamlarında	tamlarında
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	tamımdan	tamlarımdan
sənin (“your”)	tamından	tamlarından
onun (“his/her/its”)	tamından	tamlarından
bizim (“our”)	tamımızdan	tamlarımızdan
sizin (“your”)	tamınızdan	tamlarınızdan
onların (“their”)	tamından or tamlarından	tamlarından
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	tamımın	tamlarımın
sənin (“your”)	tamının	tamlarının
onun (“his/her/its”)	tamının	tamlarının
bizim (“our”)	tamımızın	tamlarımızın
sizin (“your”)	tamınızın	tamlarınızın
onların (“their”)	tamının or tamlarının	tamlarının

Derived terms

• tamsız

Further reading

• “tam” in Obastan.com.

Chewong

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɑm/

Noun

tam

1. water

References

• Howell, S. (1984). Society and cosmos: Chewong of peninsular Malaysia. p. 128.
• Kruspe, N. (2009). Ceq Wong vocabulary. In: Haspelmath, M. & Tadmoor, U. (eds.). World Loanword Database.

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic تَامّ (tāmm).

Adjective

tam

1. teeming, full

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002), Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[5], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Czech

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *só

Proto-Balto-Slavic *tas

Proto-Slavic *ta

Proto-Slavic *-mo

Proto-Slavic *tamo

Old Czech tamo

Czech tam

Inherited from Old Czech tamo, from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtam]

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

tam

1. there (in or at that place or location)

   Synonym: (dialectal) hyn

2. there (to or into that place)

   Antonyms: zpět, zpátky

Derived terms

• tamější
• tamní
• tamten
• tamtudy
• tentam

Further reading

• “tam”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “tam”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “tam”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Danish

Etymology

From Old Danish tam, from Old Norse tamr, from Proto-Germanic *tamaz, from Proto-Indo-European *demh₂-.

Adjective

tam

1. tame

Inflection

Inflection of tam

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	tam	tammere	tammest2
indefinite neuter singular	tamt	tammere	tammest2
plural	tamme	tammere	tammest2
definite attributive1	tamme	tammere	tammeste

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

References

• “tam” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch tam, from Old Dutch *tam, from Proto-West Germanic *tam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɑm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑm

Adjective

tam (comparative tammer, superlative tamst)

1. tame, not wild
2. (figuratively) boring, unexciting, bland

Declension

Declension of tam
uninflected	tam
inflected	tamme
comparative	tammer
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		tam	tammer	het tamst het tamste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	tamme	tammere	tamste
	n. sing.	tam	tammer	tamste
	plural	tamme	tammere	tamste
definite		tamme	tammere	tamste
partitive		tams	tammers	—

Related terms

• temmen

Descendants

• Afrikaans: tam
• Negerhollands: teem

Anagrams

• mat

Ido

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tam/

Adverb

tam

1. as (in comparison), so (followed by an adj.)

See also

• kam (“than, as, to (in comparison)”)

Italian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin tam. Cognate with Spanish tan, Portuguese tão. Doublet of tanto, from Latin tantum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtam/
• Rhymes: -am
• Hyphenation: tàm

Adverb

tam (archaic)

1. so [with adjectival; or with adverbial]

   Synonym: così

Kabyle

Kabyle numbers ^(edit)

←  7	8	9  →
Cardinal: tmanya     Learned cardinal: tam

Etymology

Learned borrowing from another Berber language. Compare Tashelhit tam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tam/

Numeral

tam m (feminine tamet)

1. (neologism) eight

   Synonym: tmanya

Kalkoti

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɔm/

Noun

tam

1. tree

References

• Liljegren, Henrik (2013), “Notes on Kalkoti: A Shina Language with Strong Kohistani Influences”, in Linguistic Discovery‎^[6], volume 11, number 1, →DOI

Kashubian

Alternative forms

• tamò, tã

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *só

Proto-Balto-Slavic *tas

Proto-Slavic *ta

Proto-Slavic *-mo

Proto-Slavic *tamo

Kashubian tam

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtam/
• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: tam

Adverb

tam (not comparable)

1. there

   Coordinate term: tu

Further reading

• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “tam”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[7]
• “tam”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

Kwama

Noun

tam

1. honey

References

• Goldberg, Justin; Asadik, Habte; Bekama, Jiregna; Mengistu, Mulat (2016), Gwama – English Dictionary‎^[8], SIL International

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sóder.

Proto-Italic *sei

Latin tam

From Proto-Italic *sei, from Proto-Indo-European *téh₂m, accusative of *séh₂, feminine of *só. Compare with its masculine form Latin tum, as in cum-quam.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈtãː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtam]

Adverb

tam (not comparable)

1. so, so much, to such an extent, to such a degree

   Synonyms: adeō, eō, tantopere, tantum

   Sextus tam iratus erat ut fratrem interficere vellet.

   Sextus was so angry that he wished to kill his brother.

   • 63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.5:

     Tum dēnique interficiēre, cum iam nēmō tam improbus, tam perditus, tam tuī similis invenīrī poterit, quī id nōn iūre factum esse fateātur.

     Then, finally, you will be killed, when no one so wicked, so depraved, or so like you can be found who will not admit that this was done justly.
     (tam … tam … tam … exemplifies anaphora.)

Usage notes

Often coupled with quam.

1. Such that "tam x, quam y" = "so x, as y"
   • Spinoza, Ethica Liber V:

     Sed omnia praeclara tam difficilia, quam rara sunt.

     But all things excellent are as rare as they are difficult

Often sets off a subjunctive clause of result.

Derived terms

• tamen
• tamquam
• tandem
• tantus

Related terms

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			anaphoric	identity	interrogative or basic relative	indefinite							alternative
	proximal	medial	distal				relative	irrelative	free choice	universal	positive polarity	negative polarity	negative
basic	hic	iste istic	ille illic	is	ᵉipse īdem	quis quī	quīcumque quisquis	quīdam aliquis, quis aliquī, quī nesciō quis	quīvis quīlibet	quisque	quispiam	quisquam hīlum ūllus	nēmō̆ nihil nūllus	alius
ᵇcomparative	huiusmodī ᵉhuiuscemodī	istī̆usmodī ᵉistī̆uscemodī	illī̆usmodī ᵉillī̆uscemodī	eiusmodī	eiusdemmodī	cuiusmodī	cuiusmodīcumque	alicuiusmodī cuiusdammodī	cuiusvīsmodī	cuiusquemodī			°nūllī̆usmodī	alterī̆usmodī alīusmodī
dual						uter	utercumque	alteruter	utervīs uterlibet	uterque			neuter	alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	ubī̆	ubī̆cumque °ubiubī̆	alicubī̆	ubivīs ubilibet	ubīque	uspiam	usquam °ubīquam	nusquam nūllibī	alibī aliās
source	hinc	istinc °istim	illinc °illim	inde ªim	indidem	unde °cum	undecumque °undeunde	alicunde	°undelibet	undique		°undiquam	°nūllunde	aliunde
destination	hūc hōc °hōrsum	istūc istō, istōc °istōrsum	illūc illō, illōc °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	quō quōrsum	quōcumque quōquō °quōrsumcumque	aliquō °aliquōvorsum	quōvīs quōlibet	quōque	quōpiam uspiam	usquam quōquam ªūllō	nusquam ªnihilō ªnūllō °nūllōrsum	aliō aliōrsum
means, way, path, place	hāc	ªistā istāc	ªillā illāc	eā	eādem	quā quārē	quācumque quāquā	aliquā	quāvīs quālibet	°quāque	°quāpiam	°quāquam ªūllā	nēquāquam ªnūllā ᵉhaudquāquam	aliā
ᵇdistance	hāctenus	°istātenus °istāctenus	°illātenus °illāctenus	eātenus		quātenus	°quātenuscumque °quāquātenus	aliquātenus quādantenus	°quātenusvīs °quātenuslibet			ūllātenus	nūllātenus	aliātenus
ᵇreason	°hācpropter °hōccircā	°istāpropter	°illāpropter	eāpropter proptereā eōcircā idcircō ideō		ᶜcūr quāpropter quōcircā quārē †quia								°aliāpropter
ᵇmanner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita ᵉsīc eō modō	item itidem eādem operā eōdem modō	ut prout °quem quō modō quōmodo ᵉquemadmodum	utcumque °utut °proutcumque quōmodocumque °ᵉquemadmodumcumque	quōdam modō aliquō modō	quōmodolibet	utīque quōque modō	quōpiam modō	°utiquam ūllō modō	nihil neutiquam °neutī̆que nūllō modō	aliter alterō/aliō modō
instrument, matter, knowledge						quī ᵉquīn °quīcum	quīcumque	quī °aliquī	°quīlibet	°quīque	°quia	°quīquam	nihilō nēquīquam	aliōquī ᵉaliōquīn
time	†num nunc		ōlim	tum tunc	simul	quandō̆ ‡cum	quandōcumque quandōque cumque °quandōnē °ᵉquandōquandō °cumcumque	quondam aliquandō̆	°quandōlibet	quandōque	†quoniam	umquam	numquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen †tandem	quam	quamcumque †quamquam	aliquam	quamvīs quamlibet	quamque
size				tantus	tantusdem	quantus	quantuscumque quantusquantus	aliquantus	quantusvīs quantuslibet	quantusque
quality				tālis		quālis	quāliscumque quālisquālis	aliquālis	quālislibet	quālisque
number				tot	totidem	quot	quotquot quotcumque	aliquot	quotlibet
order/fractional				totus		quotus	°quotuscumque	°aliquotus	°quotuslibet	°quotusque °quotusquisque
repetition				totiēns		quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns	quotiēnslibet	quotiēnsque °quotiēnsquisque			°nūllotiēns
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat changed ° Rare ‡ Only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative. ª Used almost exclusively to form locutions or compounds. ᵇ All locutions ending in modī, modō, propter, circā or tenus can be univerbalized and vice versa, except de, secus and if another suffix, such as -cumque, -que or -libet, follows them, quemadmodum can also come as a locution in "quem ad modum", quārē can even also come separately especially if accompanied by a preposition, such as dē. ᶜ Used purely and simply as an interrogative in direct questions (then irrelative), its relative meaning is somewhat lost, if it ever had one. ᵉemphatic

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: (archaic) tam
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: tan
  • >? Occitan: tan
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: tan
  • Mozarabic: תן (tn)
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: tan
    • Fala: tan
    • Galician: tan
    • Portuguese: tão
  • Old Leonese:
    • Asturian: tan
    • Extremaduran: tan
    • Mirandese: tan
  • Spanish: tan

References

• “tam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tam”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "tam", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “tam”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[9], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • amongst such moral depravity: tam perditis or corruptis moribus
    

Latvian

Pronoun

tam

1. to that; dative singular masculine of tas

Lithuanian

Pronunciation

• The dative and adverbial forms have one pronunciation, while the locative form has another.

Pronoun

tám

1. dative singular masculine of tàs

   tám výrui ― to that man

Adverb

tám

1. for that purpose
2. so that, in order to [followed by kàd + a subordinate clause, often in the subjunctive]

   Válgo daržóves tám, kàd bū́tų svei̇̃kas. ― (He) eats vegetables in order to be healthy.

Pronoun

tam̃

1. alternative form of tamè: locative singular masculine of tàs

   tam̃ miestè ― in that city

Further reading

• “tam”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2026
• “tam”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2026

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tam]

Adverb

tam

1. there (in that place)

Further reading

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928), “tam”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999), “tam”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

Middle English

Etymology 1

Adjective

tam

1. alternative form of tame (“tame”)

Etymology 2

Pronoun

tam

1. (Northern, after d or t) alternative form of þem (“them”)

Mizo

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *tam.

Adjective

tam

1. many, much

   Antonym: tlêm

Further reading

• Lorrain, J. Herbert (1940), “tam”, in Dictionary of the Lushai language, Calcutta: Asiatic Society

Northern Kurdish

Etymology 1

From Arabic طَعْم (ṭaʕm).

Noun

Central Kurdish	تام (tam)

tam m

1. taste

Derived terms

• bitam
• bitamtî
• bitamî
• bitamîtî
• bêtam
• bêtamtî
• bêtamî
• bêtamîtî
• tam jê hatin
• tam kirin
• tamandin
• tamandî
• tamdar
• tamdartî
• tamdarî
• tamdarîtî
• tamder
• tamdertî
• tamderî
• tamderîtî
• tamdêr
• tamdêrtî
• tamdêrî
• tamdêrîtî
• tamijandin
• tamijandî
• tamijiyayî
• tamijok
• tamijî
• tamijîn
• tamijîner
• tamker
• tamkirî
• tamî

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tʰɑːm]

Adverb

tam

1. precisely, exactly

Etymology 3

From Old Anatolian Turkish طام (d̥am).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tɑːm]

Noun

tam ?

1. house, building, structure

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse tamr.

Adjective

tam (neuter singular tamt, definite singular and plural tamme)

1. tame, domesticated

Related terms

• temme

References

• “tam” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse tamr.

Adjective

tam (neuter singular tamt, definite singular and plural tamme)

1. tame, domesticated

Related terms

• temja, temje

References

• “tam” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Alternative forms

• tom

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *tam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɑm/
• Rhymes: -ɑm

Adjective

tam

1. tame

Declension

Declension of tam — Strong

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	tam	tamu, tamo	tam
Accusative	tamne	tame	tam
Genitive	tames	tamre	tames
Dative	tamum	tamre	tamum
Instrumental	tame	tamre	tame
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	tame	tama, tame	tamu, tamo
Accusative	tame	tama, tame	tamu, tamo
Genitive	tamra	tamra	tamra
Dative	tamum	tamum	tamum
Instrumental	tamum	tamum	tamum

Declension of tam — Weak

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	tama	tame	tame
Accusative	taman	taman	tame
Genitive	taman	taman	taman
Dative	taman	taman	taman
Instrumental	taman	taman	taman
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	taman	taman	taman
Accusative	taman	taman	taman
Genitive	tamra, tamena	tamra, tamena	tamra, tamena
Dative	tamum	tamum	tamum
Instrumental	tamum	tamum	tamum

Descendants

• Middle English: tame, tam, tom, tome (early Southwest and Southwest Midlands)
  • English: tame
  • Scots: tame

Old Polish

Alternative forms

• tamo

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *só

Proto-Balto-Slavic *tas

Proto-Slavic *ta

Proto-Slavic *-mo

Proto-Slavic *tamo

Old Polish tam

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /tam/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /tam/

Adverb

tam

1. there (at that place)
2. there, thither (to that place)

Descendants

• Polish: tam
• Silesian: tam

References

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005), “tam”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Bożena Sieradzka-Baziur, et al., editors (2011–2015), “2. tam”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Oromo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɐm/

• Syllables - tam, Count - 1

  • Audio:

    (file)

Pronoun

tam

1. which (fem/little)

Polish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈtam/

• (Greater Poland):
  • (Kuyavia) IPA^(key): [ˈtam]
• (Lesser Poland):
  • (Western Lublin) IPA^(key): [ˈtam]
  • (Przemyśl) IPA^(key): [ˈtam]

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Audio 3:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: tam

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *só

Proto-Balto-Slavic *tas

Proto-Slavic *ta

Proto-Slavic *-mo

Proto-Slavic *tamo

Old Polish tam

Polish tam

Inherited from Old Polish tam.

Adverb

tam (not comparable)

1. there (at that place)

   Coordinate term: tu

2. there, thither (to that place)

   Synonym: dotąd

   Coordinate term: tu

Alternative forms

• ta (Kuyavia, Przemyśl)
• tamoj (Chełmno-Dobrzyń, Kuyavia, Przemyśl, Podegrodzie)
• tamo (Chełmno)
• tamuj (Near Masovian, Łowicz, Sierakowice, Dzierzgów, Jacochów, Płaskocin, Eastern Lublin, Krynice and Kryniczki, Western Lublin, Dys)
• tamej (Łowicz, Zduny, Strugienice, Wierznowice, Maurzyce, Świące, Bocheń, Skaratki, Rogóźno, Lisiewice, Mystkowice, Piotrowice, Łowicz County, Przezwiska, Złaków Borowy, Złaków Kościelny, Duplice Duże, Duplice Małe, Retki)

Derived terms

adverbs

• tu i tam

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), tam (adverb) is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 34 times in scientific texts, 35 times in news, 70 times in essays, 148 times in fiction, and 216 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 503 times, making it the 87th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

Particle

tam

1. contrastive particle

   Ja tam to lubię. ― Yeah well I like it.

2. (colloquial) particle that reduces the importance of something some

   coś tam ― something or other

3. (colloquial or Kuyavia, Western Lublin, Józwów, Przemyśl, San river) particle that marks a statement as inadequately describing something

Derived terms

interjections

• a co tam
• a tam

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), tam (particle) is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 0 times in scientific texts, 0 times in news, 0 times in essays, 27 times in fiction, and 78 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 105 times, making it the 593rd most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

tam f

1. genitive plural of tama

Further reading

• “tam”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[10] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “tam”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[11] (in Polish)
• “TAM I”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 10 May 2016
• “TAM II”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 14 January 2008
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814), “tam”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “tam”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1919), “tam”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 7, Warsaw, page 15
• Jan Karłowicz (1907), “tam”, in Jan Łoś, editors, Słownik gwar polskich [Dictionary of Polish dialects] (in Polish), volume 5: R S Ś T, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page 383

Portuguese

Adverb

tam (not comparable)

1. obsolete spelling of tão

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

Adverb

tam (Cyrillic spelling там)

1. (Kajkavian, regional) there

   Synonym: tamo

Silesian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *só

Proto-Balto-Slavic *tas

Proto-Slavic *ta

Proto-Slavic *-mo

Proto-Slavic *tamo

Old Polish tam

Silesian tam

Inherited from Old Polish tam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtam/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: tam

Adverb

tam

1. there (at that place)

   Synonyms: (regional) hań, (Cieszyń) hanej, (Cieszyń) han

   Coordinate terms: sam, tukej, tu

Particle

tam

1. (expressive) particle that highlights the similarities of something

Further reading

• tam in dykcjonorz.eu
• tam in silling.org

Slovak

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *só

Proto-Balto-Slavic *tas

Proto-Slavic *ta

Proto-Slavic *-mo

Proto-Slavic *tamo

Slovak tam

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tam/, [ˈtam]
• Rhymes: -am

Adverb

tam

1. there

   Antonym: tu

2. thither

   Synonym: ta

   Antonym: sem

References

• “tam”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Slovene

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tám/

Adverb

tȁm

1. there, in that place

Further reading

• “tam”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2026

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish tamber, from Old Norse tamr, from Proto-Germanic *tamaz, from Proto-Indo-European *demh₂-.

Adjective

tam (comparative tamare, superlative tamast)

1. tame (not afraid of people)
2. (often in compounds) domestic, domesticated

   Synonym: domesticerad

Declension

Inflection of tam

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	tam	tamare	tamast
neuter singular	tamt	tamare	tamast
plural	tama	tamare	tamast
masculine plural2	tame	tamare	tamast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	tame	tamare	tamaste
all	tama	tamare	tamaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Derived terms

• tamdjur (“domestic animal”)
• tamfår (“domestic sheep”)
• tamkatt (“domestic cat”)

Related terms

• tämja

References

• “tam”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “tam”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “tam”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• mat, mat.

Tashelhit

Tashelhit numbers ^(edit)

	80
←  7	8	9  →
Cardinal: tam     Ordinal: wiss tam

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Berber. Cognate with Zenaga ittäm (“eight”), Ghadames tám (“eight”), Tuareg əttam (“eight”), Northern Saharan Berber tam (“eight”) and Guanche tamatti (“eight”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tam/

Numeral

tam m (feminine tamt, Tifinagh spelling ⵜⴰⵎ, Arabic spelling تام)

1. eight

See also

Tashelhit cardinal numbers from 0 to 99

	—0	—1	—2	—3	—4	—5	—6	—7	—8	—9
0—	ṣifr	yan	sin	kraḍ	kkuẓ	smmus	sḍis	sa	tam	tẓa
10—	mraw	yan d mraw	sin d mraw	kraḍ d mraw	kkuẓ d mraw	smmus d mraw	sḍis d mraw	sa d mraw	tam d mraw	tẓa d mraw
20—	ɛcrin	ɛcrin d yan	ɛcrin d sin	ɛcrin d kraḍ	ɛcrin d kkuẓ	ɛcrin d smmus	ɛcrin d sḍis	ɛcrin d sa	ɛcrin d tam	ɛcrin d tẓa
30—	ɛcrin d mraw	ɛcrin d yan d mraw	ɛcrin d sin d mraw	ɛcrin d kraḍ d mraw	ɛcrin d kkuẓ d mraw	ɛcrin d smmus d mraw	ɛcrin d sḍis d mraw	ɛcrin d sa d mraw	ɛcrin d tam d mraw	ɛcrin d tẓa d mraw
40—	sin idaw ɛcrin	sin idaw ɛcrin d yan	sin idaw ɛcrin d sin	sin idaw ɛcrin d kraḍ	sin idaw ɛcrin d kkuẓ	sin idaw ɛcrin d smmus	sin idaw ɛcrin d sḍis	sin idaw ɛcrin d sa	sin idaw ɛcrin d tam	sin idaw ɛcrin d tẓa
50—	sin idaw ɛcrin d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d yan d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d sin d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d kraḍ d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d kkuẓ d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d smmus d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d sḍis d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d sa d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d tam d mraw	sin idaw ɛcrin d tẓa d mraw
60—	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d yan	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d sin	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d kraḍ	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d kkuẓ	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d smmus	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d sḍis	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d sa	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d tam	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d tẓa
70—	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d yan d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d sin d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d kraḍ d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d kkuẓ d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d smmus d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d sḍis d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d sa d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d tam d mraw	kraḍ idaw ɛcrin d tẓa d mraw
80—	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d yan	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d sin	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d kraḍ	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d kkuẓ	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d smmus	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d sḍis	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d sa	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d tam	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d tẓa
90—	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d yan d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d sin d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d kraḍ d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d kkuẓ d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d smmus d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d sḍis d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d sa d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d tam d mraw	kkuẓ idaw ɛcrin d tẓa d mraw

References

• Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 4 T–Ẓ (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/4) (in French), Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 2457a

Tatar

Noun

tam

1. wall

Turkish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic تَامّ (tāmm)

Ottoman Turkish تام (tam)

Turkish tam

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish تام (tam, “complete, exact; completely, exactly”), from Arabic تَامّ (tāmm).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tam/
• Hyphenation: tam

Adverb

tam

1. exactly

   Synonyms: tıpkı, aynı

   Tam arkanda! ― On your six! (literally, “Right behind you!”)

2. right when, right while

   tam uyuyordum, kapı çalındı ― right when I was about to sleep, the doorbell rang

Adjective

tam

1. complete, absolute

   Synonym: eksiksiz

2. full, entire
3. exact

Noun

tam (definite accusative tamı, plural tamlar)

1. (slang) a dollar

   Synonym: dolar

Declension

Declension of tam

	singular	plural
nominative	tam	tamlar
definite accusative	tamı	tamları
dative	tama	tamlara
locative	tamda	tamlarda
ablative	tamdan	tamlardan
genitive	tamın	tamların

Derived terms

• tam açı
• tam algı
• tam altın
• tam anlamıyla
• tam asalak
• tam bakım
• tam bilet
• tam bölen
• tam ekmek
• tam ekran
• tam er
• tam gaz
• tam gün
• tam kafiye
• tam manasıyla
• tam mesai
• tam not
• tam otomatik
• tam pansiyon
• tam sayı
• tam sırası
• tam siper
• tam tamına
• tam tarife
• tam uyak
• tam üstüne basmak
• tam yol
• tamı tamına
• tamkare
• tamlamak
• tamlık

Further reading

• “tam”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010), “tam”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “tam”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “تام”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[12], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 480

Upper Sorbian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo. Cognate with Lower Sorbian tam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtam/
• Rhymes: -am
• Hyphenation: tam
• Syllabification: tam

Adverb

tam

1. there

References

• “tam” in Soblex

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [taːm˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [taːm˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [taːm˧˧]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Vietic *k-saːm. Cognate with Arem katʰæːm, Thavung saːm¹, Kuy sɛːm, Khmu [Cuang] hɛːm.

Attested in Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經) as 三 (MC sam) (modern SV: tam).

The term was probably already archaic in Northern Old Vietnamese by the time it started to be written down and was only attested in the compound 𱙎三 (anh tam, “elder brother and younger sibling”). However, it continues to be used until present days (although also seems to be limited in certain compounds) in the conservative North Central dialects of Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị.

Noun

tam • (三)

1. (Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, obsolete in all other dialects) younger sibling
   • 15th century, 阮廌 [Nguyễn Trãi], “述興十九 [Thuật hứng 19]”, in 國音詩集 [Quốc âm thi tập]:

     𡶀廊盈𪀄部伴
     𩄲客次月𱙎三

     Núi láng diềng, chim bầu bạn,
     Mây khách thứa, nguyệt anh tam.

     Mountains as neighbors, birds are friends,
     Clouds as guests, the moon is my kin.

Derived terms

• eng tam
• em tam

Etymology 2

Romanization

tam

1. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 三

Derived terms

• đàn tam
• Hội Tam Điểm
• quá tam ba bận
• tam ca
• tam cương
• tam đoạn luận
• tam giác
• tam nguyên
• tam sao thất bản
• tam thức
• tam tiêu
• tam tòng
• thuyền tam bản

See also

• ba

Welsh

Etymology

Derived from Proto-Indo-European *tend-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tam/

Noun

tam m (plural tamau, diminutive temig)

1. morsel, mouthful

   Synonyms: cegaid, cegan

Derived terms

• tamaid (“morsel, snack”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of tam

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
tam	dam	nham	tham

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “tam”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Yimchungru Naga

Etymology

From Proto-Central Naga *tam. Cognate with Lotha Naga tüma and Chungli Ao atem.

Verb

tam

1. to clap
2. to slap

Further reading

• Raguibou, I.D.; Borah, Dinkur (29 July 2022), A Yimkhiung-English-Hindi Trilingual Dictionary‎^[13], Centre for Endangered Languages, Tezpur University, page 47
• Bruhn, Daniel Wayne (2014), A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Central Naga‎^[14], Berkeley: University of California, page 216

Zazaki

Noun

tam

1. taste

Derived terms

• bêtam
• tam kerden
• tam kerdış
• tamey
• tamin
• tamkar
• tamser