Where does “tom” come from?
tom (Norwegian Bokmål) comes from Old Norse tómr, from Proto-Germanic tōmaz, from Proto-Indo-European doma- — to tame.
tom (Norwegian Bokmål): empty
Ancestry of “tom”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Norse | tómr | empty; vain, mere, idle |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | tōmaz | free, clear, empty, unoccupied |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | doma- | to tame |