English
tomb
Tomb comes from Old French tombe, and goes back to Ancient Greek τύμβος ‘a sepulchral mound, tomb, grave’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτύμβοςtúmbos‘a sepulchral mound, tomb, grave’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtumba
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400tombe
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘sepulchre’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595tomb
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτύμβοςtúmbos‘a sepulchral mound, tomb, grave’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtumba
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400tombe
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘sepulchre’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595tomb
Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.”
The story
From Middle English tombe, toumbe, borrowed from Old French tombe, from Latin tumba from Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “a sepulchral mound, tomb, grave”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (‘to swell’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- ‘to swell’
butter, tumor, tumour, truffle, tumultuous, tuff, trifle, tyrosine, soma, tumult, tuber, turgid, madrasa, tufa, 43 more
Today it means
noun A small building, or a room within one, for the remains of the dead, with walls, a roof, and (if it is to be used for more than one corpse) a door. It may be partly or wholly in the ground (except for its entrance) in a cemetery, or it may be inside a church proper or in its crypt. Single tombs may be permanently sealed; those for families (or other groups) have doors for access whenever needed.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek τύμβος / tomb