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 of tome

Noun

• book

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

The Newmans completed their 21,500-square-foot home in 2012 but just got around to publishing the coffee table tome this year. —Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 7 Dec. 2025

Each shot looks like a page out of a cursed tome of twisted, postmodern fairy tales, the images forbidding and slightly abstract. —Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025

On his bookshelves, archeological works sat beside tomes on Greek, Norse, and Celtic mythology. —Alex Ross, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025

Ahead of the tome’s December 2 release, Klein was the toast of the town on Monday night. —Paul Chi, Vogue, 19 Nov. 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