Where does “tam” come from?
tam (Portuguese) comes from Portuguese tão, from Old Portuguese tan, from Latin tam, from Proto-Indo-European téh₂m, from Proto-Indo-European séh₂, from Proto-Indo-European só — this; that.
tam (Portuguese): Obsolete spelling of tão
Ancestry of “tam”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Portuguese | tão | so; as … as; Eye dialect spelling of estão |
| 2 | Old Portuguese | tan | as; so; so |
| 3 | Latin | tam | so, so much, to such an extent, to such a degree |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | téh₂m | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | séh₂ | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | só | this; that |