tome

noun \ ˈtōm \

|Updated on: 6 Jul 2018

Examples: tome in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of tome

1 : book; especially : a large or scholarly book

2 : a volume forming part of a larger work

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Examples of tome in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of tome from the Web

Rich in fantastical, avant-garde fashion imagery and insight into their work, the tome features pictures of Gisele Bündchen and Stephanie Seymour, who are accompanied by fresher faces like Binx Walton and Lineisy Montero.

— charlotte sutherland-hawes, A-LIST, "GilesSølveKatie Hits Bookshops," 22 June 2018
Cavell’s sentences were alive with allusions in hectic smart-alecky self-mocking prose that seem closer in spirit to a Marx Brothers movie than a philosophic tome.

— jeet heer, The New Republic, "Stanley Cavell was a philosopher with style.," 20 June 2018
Comey come down The report — a 568-page tome — found Comey showed no bias while investigating Clinton's use of a private email server.

— joshua hafner, USA TODAY, "OnPolitics Today: 'We'll stop it,' FBI agent said of Trump election," 14 June 2018
One such night, a colorful tome called to me from a bargain bin.

— julia tausch, Bon Appetit, "'The Cranks Bible' Is the Only Vegetarian Cookbook I'll Ever Need," 13 June 2018
Harris has already worn a groove in the national Democratic fundraising circuit, hired a number of national campaign veterans and is peddling the obligatory policy and personality tome that has become a look-me-over staple of White House wannabes.

— mark z. barabak, latimes.com, "California to its presidential wannabes: Don't quit that day job!," 23 May 2018
This week, Facebook delivered a tome of responses to questions posed during Senate hearings in April.

— david carroll, WIRED, "The US Should Pay Attention to Foreign Cambridge Analytica Probes," 15 June 2018
Back in the Microsoft antitrust case, the late Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued a 207-page tome with findings of facts and another 46-page decision with his findings of law.

— aaron pressman, Fortune, "AT&T, Time Warner, and the Future of TV in the Mobile Era," 13 June 2018
This latest tome is Starr’s third collection of photography, following the bestselling Postcards From The Boys (2003) and Photograph (2013).

— jordan runtagh, PEOPLE.com, "Ringo Starr Announces New Book of Photos Offering an Intimate Glimpse into His Legendary Life," 6 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tome.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Tome comes from Latin tomus, which comes from Greek tomos, meaning "section" or "roll of papyrus." Tomos comes from the Greek verb temnein, which means "to cut." In ancient times, some of the longest scrolls of papyrus occasionally were divided into sections. When it was first used in English in the 16th century, tome was a book that was a part of a multi-volume work. Now a tome is most often simply a large and often ponderous book.

Origin and Etymology of tome

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1519

in the meaning defined at sense 2

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