tum tum

noun

"tum-tum" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tum tum” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative form of tum-tum (“tummy”).

Corpus desk

Index EN-tum-tum · tum tum · English

tum tum · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for tum tum
PropertyValue
Headwordtum tum
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tum tum” in English

tum tumranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tum tum is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

tum tum doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is tum tum, spelled T-U-M- -T-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Alternative form of tum-tum (“tummy”).
  2. 2
    Alternative form of tum-tum (“kind of vehicle”).
  3. 3
    Alternative form of tumtum (“kind of drum”).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how tum tum appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. (Turns towards me, opens his eyes and mouth, and hums the REPRISE somewhere down in his throat.) […] Friend No. 1 (stopping in his tum tum tum). What's he say?
  2. The toombah, a drum with tin jingles and shells, accompanied songs and dances of Africans on Antigua. A report in 1844 mentions the “tum tum” (toombah) and […]

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tum tum"?
"tum tum" is spelled T-U-M- -T-U-M.
What does "tum tum" mean?
As a noun, "tum tum" means: Alternative form of tum-tum (“tummy”).
What language does "tum tum" come from?
"tum tum" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list