# tam
## Translingual
### Symbol

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

### See also

* Wiktionary’s coverage of Tamil terms

## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tæm/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Etymology 1

Short for tam o'shanter.

#### Noun

tam (plural tams)
* Clipping of tam o'shanter, a type of cap.
** 1988 July 1, Bryan Miller, “A Gathering of Scots”, in Chicago Reader‎: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)
* 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
* (of a task to be completed) done; finished; complete
    Mən kitabı hələ tam oxumamışam. ― I have not finished reading the book.
* 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)
* taste
    Synonym: dad

##### Derived terms

* tamsız

### Further reading

* “tam” in Obastan.com.

## Chewong
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tɑm/

### Noun

tam
* 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
### Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic تَامّ (tāmm).

### Adjective

tam
* teeming, full

### References

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

## Czech
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech tamo, from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈtam]
* Audio:(file)

### Adverb

tam
* there (in or at that place or location)
    Synonym: (dialectal) hyn
* there (to or into that place)
    Antonyms: zpět, zpátky

#### Derived terms

* tamější
* tamní
* tamten
* tamtudy
* tentam

### Further reading

* “tam”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* “tam”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
* “tam”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

## Danish
### Etymology

From Old Danish tam, from Old Norse tamr, from Proto-Germanic *tamaz, from Proto-Indo-European *demh₂-.

### Adjective

tam
* tame

#### Inflection

$^1$ 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: /tɑm/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɑm

### Adjective

tam (comparative tammer, superlative tamst)
* tame, not wild
* (figuratively) boring, unexciting, bland

#### Related terms

* temmen

#### Descendants

* Afrikaans: tam
* Negerhollands: teem

### Anagrams

* mat

## Ido
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tam.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tam/

### Adverb

tam
* as (in comparison), so (followed by an adj.)

#### See also

* kam (“than, as, to (in comparison)”)

## Kabyle
### Etymology

From Proto-Berber.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tam/

### Numeral

tam (feminine tamet)
* eight
    Synonym: tmanya

## Kashubian
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈtam/
* Rhymes: -am
* Syllabification: tam

### Adverb

tam (not comparable)
* there
    Coordinate term: tu

### Further reading

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

## Kwama
### Noun

tam
* honey

### References

* Goldberg, Justin, Asadik, Habte, Bekama, Jiregna, Mengistu, Mulat (2016) Gwama – English Dictionary‎, SIL International

## 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 Latin) IPA: /ˈtam/, [ˈt̪ä̃ˑ]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈtam/, [ˈt̪äm]

### Adverb

tam (not comparable)
* 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.
* 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

| type | demonstrative | demonstrative | demonstrative | anaphoric | identity | interrogative/ relative | indefinite | indefinite | indefinite | indefinite | indefinite | negative | other |
| type | proximal | medial | distal | anaphoric | identity | interrogative/ relative | relative | indefinite | free choice | universal | negative polarity | negative | other |
| basic | hic | iste, istic | ille, illic | is | ipse, īdem | quis/quī | quisquis, quīcumque | quis, quī, quīdam, aliquis, aliquī, quispiam | quīvis, quīlibet | quisque | quisquam, ūllus, °aliquisquam | nēmō, nihil, nūllus | alius |
| dual | | | | | | uter | utercumque | alteruter | utervīs, uterlibet | uterque | | neuter | alter |
| place | hīc | istīc | illīc | ibī̆ | ibī̆dem | ubī̆ | ubiubi, ubī̆cumque | alicubī, uspiam | ubivīs, ubilibet | ubīque | usquam | nusquam, nūllibī | alibī, aliās |
| source | hinc | istinc | illinc | inde | indidem | unde | undecumque, undeunde | alicunde | °undelibet | undique | | | 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 | quāvīs, quālibet | quāque | | 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 | quōmodolibet | utīque | ūllō modō | nūllō modō | aliter, aliōquī, alterō/aliō modō |
| time | num, nunc | | ōlim | tum, tunc | simul | quandō, ‡cum | cumque, quandōcumque, quandōque | quondam, aliquandō | quandōlibet | quandōque | 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, London: Macmillan and Co. amongst such moral depravity: tam perditis or corruptis moribus
* ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “tam”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 606

## Latvian
### Pronoun

tam
* to that; dative singular masculine of tas

## Lithuanian
### Pronunciation

* The dative and adverbial forms have one pronunciation, while the locative form has another.
* This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

### Pronoun

tám
* dative singular masculine of tàs
    tám výrui ― to that man

### Adverb

tám
* for that purpose
* 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
* 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, 1941–2025
* “tam”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2025

## Lower Sorbian
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [tam]

### Adverb

tam
* 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

## Middle English
### Etymology 1
#### Adjective

tam
* Alternative form of tame (“tame”)

### Etymology 2
#### Pronoun

tam
* (Northern, after d or t) Alternative form of þem (“them”)

## Northern Kurdish
### Etymology 1

From Arabic طَعْم (ṭaʕm).

#### Noun

| Central Kurdish | تام (tam) |
tam m
* taste

##### Derived terms

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

### Etymology 2
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [tʰɑːm]

#### Adverb

tam
* precisely, exactly

### Etymology 3

From Old Anatolian Turkish طام (d̥am).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [tɑːm]

#### Noun

tam ?
* house, building, structure

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From Old Norse tamr.

### Adjective

tam (neuter singular tamt, definite singular and plural tamme)
* 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)
* 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: /tɑm/

### Adjective

tam
* tame

#### Descendants

* Middle English: tame, tam, tom, tome (early Southwest and Southwest Midlands)
** English: tame
** Scots: tame

## Old Polish
### Alternative forms

* tamo

### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo. First attested in the 14th century.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (10th–15th CE) /tam/
* IPA: (15th CE) /tam/

### Adverb

tam
* there (at that place)
* there, thither (to that place)

#### Descendants

* Polish: tam
* Silesian: tam

### References

* Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “tam”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
* B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “2. tam”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

## Polish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈtam/
* Audio 1:(file)
* Audio 2:(file)
* Audio 3:(file)
* Rhymes: -am
* Syllabification: tam

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Polish tam.

#### Adverb

tam (not comparable)
* there (at that place)
    Coordinate term: tu
* there, thither (to that place)
    Synonym: dotąd
    Coordinate term: tu

#### Alternative forms

* ta (Kuyavia, Przemyśl)
* tamoj (Chełmno-Dobrzyń, Kuyavia, Przemyśl, Podegrodzie)
* tamo (Chełmno)
* tamuj (Near Masovian)

#### 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
* contrastive particle
    Ja tam to lubię. ― Yeah well I like it.
* (colloquial) particle that reduces the importance of something some
    coś tam ― something or other
* (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
* genitive plural of tama

### References

* ↑ Ida Kurcz (1990) “tam (adverb)”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), volume 2, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 595
* ↑ Ida Kurcz (1990) “tam (particle)”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), volume 2, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 595

### 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
* Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “tam”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
* J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1919), “tam”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 7, Warsaw, page 15

## Portuguese
### Adverb

tam (not comparable)
* 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
* (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)
* (Kajkavian, regional) there
    Synonym: tamo

## Silesian
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish tam.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈtam/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -am
* Syllabification: tam

### Adverb

tam
* there (at that place)
    Synonyms: (regional) hań, (Cieszyń) hanej, (Cieszyń) han
    Coordinate terms: sam, tukej, tu

### Particle

tam
* (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: /ˈtam/

### Adverb

tam
* there
    Antonym: tu
* 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, 2003–2025

## Slovene
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tám/

### Adverb

tȁm
* there, in that place

### Further reading

* “tam”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

## 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)
* tame (not afraid of people)
* (often in compounds) domestic, domesticated
    Synonym: domesticerad

#### Declension

$^1$ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. $^2$ Dated or archaic. $^3$ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

#### Derived terms

* tamdjur (“domestic animal”)
* tamfår (“domestic sheep”)
* tamkatt (“domestic cat”)

#### Related terms

* tämja

### References

* tam in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* tam in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* tam in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

### Anagrams

* mat, mat.

## Tatar
### Noun

tam
* wall

## Turkish
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tam/

### Adjective

tam
* complete, absolute
* 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, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 480

## Upper Sorbian
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tamo. Cognate with Lower Sorbian tam.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈtam/
* Rhymes: -am
* Hyphenation: tam
* Syllabification: tam

### Adverb

tam
* there

### References

* “tam” in Soblex

## Vietnamese
### Pronunciation

* (Hà Nội) IPA: [taːm˧˧]
* (Huế) IPA: [taːm˧˧]
* (Saigon) IPA: [taːm˧˧]
* Audio (Hà Nội):(file)

### Etymology 1
#### Romanization

tam
* Sino-Vietnamese reading of 三

##### Derived terms

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

##### See also

* 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 in Northern Old Vietnamese by the time it started to be written down and was only attested in the compound 󰞿三 (anh tam, “elder brother and younger sibling”). However, it continues to be used until present days (although also seems to be limited in certain compounds) in the conservative North Central dialects of Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Hà Tĩnh.

#### Noun

tam • (三)
* (Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Hà Tĩnh, obsolete in all other dialects) 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.

##### Derived terms

* eng tam
* em tam

## Zazaki
### Noun

tam
* taste

#### Derived terms

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