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tomte

Pronunciation: /ˈtɔmˌte/

“tomte” is a Swedish word. Its 5 meanings in English:

noun

  1. a small human-like creature in Nordic folklore that lives on farmsteads and watches over their inhabitants; a brownie, a gnome.
  2. Santa Claus
  3. a person who behaves irresponsibly, oddly or incompetently
  4. a person that diligently tends to practical matters
  5. a person dressed as a tomte (or tomtenisse), often a boy participating in a Swedish Saint Lucy's Day procession (luciatåg)

Etymology

Attested since 1790 according to Svenska Akademiens ordbok. An elliptic form of tomtebisse or tomtegubbe with the same meaning. Derived from tomt (“site; lot; garden”). The association between the mythological creature and Santa Claus had its origins in the 19th century (first attestation is from 1864) and was firmly established in the middle of the 20th century. Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.