tom
n. countablen. a common name for a man or a boy. It is also a general name for a male cat.
n. a masculine given name, typically a diminutive of Thomas; also used generically to denote the male of certain animal species, particularly the domestic cat.
My friend Tom lives in London.
The neighbor's large ginger tom often sits on the garden wall to watch the birds.
While the name Tom remains a staple of English nomenclature, its use as a generic descriptor for male animals highlights how specific names can transition into functional vocabulary.
From Middle English Thomme. Hypocorism of Thomas. The dollar-bill sense is from the portrait of Thomas Jefferson featured on it.
Variant of TOM (“time of the month”) influenced by the name.
Possibly onomatopoeia, conflated with the given name, given the practice of giving objects such as Big Ben human names. Alternatively, it may derive from an inscription on the old bell used as metal to make the Great Tom of Oxford in 1680: In Thomæ laude resono bim bom sine fraude.
When referring to a male cat, it is often used as 'tom' or 'tom-cat'.