tam

See also: Appendix:Variations of "tam"

Translingual

Symbol

tam

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

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tæm/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Etymology 1

Short for tam o'shanter.

Noun

tam (plural tams)

1. Synonym of tam o'shanter, a type of cap.
   • 1988 July 1, Bryan Miller, “A Gathering of Scots”, in Chicago Reader‎^[3]:

     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

Etymology 1

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

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

Adjective

tam

1. teeming, full

References

• Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[4], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Czech

Etymology

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)
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, 1935–1957
• tam in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• tam in Internetová jazyková příručka

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
Indefinte 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 Old Dutch *tam, from Proto-Germanic *tamaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɑm/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑm

Adjective

tam (comparative tammer, superlative tamst)

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

Inflection

Inflection 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	—

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)”)

Kabyle

Kabyle cardinal numbers

<  7	8	9  >
Cardinal : tam     Arabic loanword : tmanya

Etymology

From Proto-Berber.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tam/

Numeral

tam (feminine tamet)

1. eight

   Synonym: tmanya

Kashubian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtam/
• Syllabification: tam

Adverb

tam

1. there

   Coordinate term: tu

Further reading

• “tam”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “tam”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[5]

Kwama

Noun

tam

1. honey

References

• Goldberg, Justin, Asadik, Habte, Bekama, Jiregna, Mengistu, Mulat (2016) Gwama – English Dictionary‎^[6], SIL International

Lashi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tam/

Verb

tam

1. to make something level

References

• Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎^[7], Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

Latin

Etymology

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) IPA^(key): /tam/, [t̪ä̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /tam/, [t̪äm]

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.

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/ relative	indefinite					negative	other
	proximal	medial	distal				relative	indefinite	universal	free choice	negative polarity
basic	hic	iste, istic	ille, illic	is	ipse, īdem	quis/quī	quisquis, quīcumque	quis, quī, quīdam, aliquis, aliquī, quispiam	quisque	quīvis, quīlibet	quisquam, ūllus, °aliquisquam	nēmō, nihil, nūllus	alius
dual						uter	utercumque	alteruter	uterque	utervīs, uterlibet		neuter	alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	ubī̆	ubiubi, ubī̆cumque	alicubī, uspiam	ubīque	ubivīs, ubilibet	usquam	nusquam, nūllibī	alibī, aliās
source	hinc	istinc	illinc	inde	indidem	unde	undecumque, undeunde	alicunde	undique	°undelibet			aliunde
destination	hūc, °hōrsum	istūc, °istōrsum	illūc, °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	quō, quōrsum	quōquō, quōcumque	aliquō, quōpiam, °aliquōvorsum		quōvīs, quōlibet	quōquam	nusquam, nūllōrsum	aliō, aliōrsum
method, means, path, place	hāc	istāc	illāc	eā	eādem	quā	quāquā, quācumque	aliquā	quāque	quāvīs, quālibet		nēquāquam, haudquāquam	aliā
manner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita, sīc, eō modō	item, itidem	ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum	utut, utcumque, quōmodocumque	quī, quōdam modō, aliquō modō	utique	quōmodolibet	ūllō modō	nūllō modō	aliter, aliōquī, alterō/aliō modō
time	num, nunc		ōlim	tum, tunc	simul	quandō, ‡cum	cumque, quandōcumque, quandōque	quondam, aliquandō	quandōque	quandōlibet	umquam	numquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen, †tandem	quam	†quamquam	aliquam		quamvīs, quamlibet
size				tantus	tantusdem	quantus	quantuscumque	aliquantus		quantusvīs, quantuslibet
quality				tālis		quālis	quālis, quāliscumque	aliquālis		quālislibet
number				tot	totidem	quot	quotquot, quotcumque	aliquot		quotlibet
order				totus		quotus	quotuscumque	aliquotus		quotuslibet
repetition				totiēns		quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns		quotiēnslibet
multiplication				totuplex		quotuplex
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimulated ° Rare ‡only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative

Descendants

• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: tan
  • >? Occitan: tan
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: tan
  • Mozarabic: תן (tn)
  • Old Leonese: [Term?]
    • Asturian: tan
    • Extremaduran: tan
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: tan
    • Fala: tan
    • Galician: tan
    • Portuguese: tão
  • 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’s 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^[8], 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 sveĩkas. ― 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, 1941–2024
• “tam”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2024

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

Masurian

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish tam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtam]
• Syllabification: tam

Adverb

tam (not comparable)

1. there (at that place)

   Coordinate term: tu

   • 2018, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, translated by Paweł Pogorzelski and Psioter ôt Sziatków (Piotr Szatkowski), Małi Princ [The Little Prince], →ISBN, page 72:

     – Dobri dżiéń – poziedżiáł, kiebi szie trasiło, co chtószczi tam buł.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

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”)

Northern Kurdish

Etymology 1

From Arabic طَعْم (ṭaʕm).

Noun

Central Kurdish	تام (tam)

tam ?

1. taste

Derived terms

Derived terms

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

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/

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
  • English: tame
  • Scots: tame

Old Polish

Alternative forms

• tamo

Etymology

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

• Masurian: tam
• Polish: tam
• Silesian: tam

References

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

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tam/

• Audio 1

  (file)

• Audio 2

  (file)

• Audio 3

  (file)

• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: tam

Etymology 1

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

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) particle that marks a statement as inadequately describing something

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, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• tam in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• “TAM I”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 2016 May 10
• “TAM II”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 2008 January 14
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “tam”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎^[9]
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “tam”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861‎^[10]
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1919), “tam”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎^[11] (in Polish), volume 7, Warsaw, page 15

Portuguese

Adverb

tam (not comparable)

1. Obsolete spelling of tão

Salar

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *tam- (“to drip”). Cognate with Southern Altai тамар (tamar, “to drip”), Turkish damlamak.

Verb

tam

1. (intransitive) to drip

References

• Tenishev, Edhem (1976) “tam”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

Adverb

tam (Cyrillic spelling там)

1. (Kajkavian, regional) there

   Synonym: tamo

Silesian

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish tam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtam/
• 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

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtam/

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, 2024

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, portal Fran

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 wild), domesticated

Declension

Inflection of tam
Indefinite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative2
Common singular	tam	tamare	tamast
Neuter singular	tamt	tamare	tamast
Plural	tama	tamare	tamast
Masculine plural3	tame	tamare	tamast
Definite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Masculine singular1	tame	tamare	tamaste
All	tama	tamare	tamaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic

Related terms

• tämja

Anagrams

• mat, mat.

Tatar

Noun

tam

1. wall

Turkish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑm/

Adjective

tam

1. complete, absolute
2. full, entire

Derived terms

• tam sayı
• tamlık

References

• 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.

Pronunciation

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

Adverb

tam (not comparable)

1. there

Further reading

• “tam” in Soblex

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [taːm˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [taːm˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [taːm˧˧]

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 三 (“three”).

Numeral

tam

1. (only in compounds) three

Derived terms

• Hội Tam Điểm (會三點, “Freemasonry”)
• tam giác (三角, “triangle”)
• tam tiêu (三焦, “triple burner”)
• tam đoạn luận (三段論, “syllogism”)
• thuyền tam bản (船三板, “sampan”)
• đàn tam (彈三, “samisen”)

 

See also

• (native) ba

Etymology 2

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

The term was probably already archaic by the time it started to be written down and was only attested in the compound 󰞿三 (anh tam, “elder brother and younger sibling”).

Noun

tam • (三)

1. (obsolete) younger sibling
   • 15th century, Nguyễn Trãi, “述興 Thuật hứng 19”, in Quốc âm thi tập (國音詩集):

     𡶀廊盈𪀄部伴
     𩄲客次月󰞿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.

Zazaki

Noun

tam

1. taste

Derived terms

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