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Glite Dictionary
🧒 Tiny folklore boy 👦 A very small person
Tom Thumb

Tom Thumb

8.5
A tiny imaginary boy from English stories
  • proper noun
  • Literature
translation icon : Pulgarcito
  • Don't forget Tom Thumb!

Examples

  • Tom Thumb is small.

  • The story of Tom Thumb is beloved by children for its charming depiction of a tiny hero.

  • As a child, he loved hearing stories about Tom Thumb and his adventures with giants.

  • In literature, Tom Thumb represents the triumph of cleverness over size.

  • The play was based on the tale of Tom Thumb, thrilling both children and adults in the audience.

  • In English folklore, Tom Thumb is known for being no taller than his father's thumb.

  • Many tales featuring Tom Thumb highlight his cleverness despite his small size.

Surface Forms

Tom Thumb main

Morphology

Tom + Thumb

This is a proper name from folklore whose meaning ('a very small person') derives from the legendary character, not from a compositional combination of 'Tom' (a personal name) and 'thumb' (a body part). A B1 learner who knows the words 'Tom' and 'thumb' would not reliably infer the idiomatic sense, so the expression is unpredictable and idiomatic.

Etymology

Tom Thumb comes from an old English fairy tale about a boy who was 'no bigger than his father's thumb' and who has many small adventures. That's why he is the famous tiny character in old stories.