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Origin and history of tombolo

tombolo(n.)

sand-bar joining an island to the mainland, 1899, from Italian tombolo "sand dune," from Latin tumulus "hillock, mound, heap of earth" (see tomb).

also from 1899

Entries linking to tombolo

tomb(n.)

c. 1200, tombe, tumbe, early 14c. tomb, "structure for interment of a corpse, excavation made to receive the dead body of a human," from Anglo-French tumbe, Old French tombe "tomb, monument, tombstone" (12c.), from Late Latin tumba (Medieval Latin tomba, also source of Italian tomba, Spanish tumba), from Greek tymbos "mound, burial mound," generally "grave, tomb."

Watkins suggests it is perhaps from PIE root *teue- "to swell," but Beekes writes that it is probably a Pre-Greek (non-IE) word. He writes that Latin tumulus "earth-hill" and Armenian t'umb "landfill, earthen wall" "may contain the same Pre-Greek/Mediterranean word," and suggests further connections to Middle Irish tomm "small hill," Middle Welsh tom "dung, mound."

The spelling tomb "never exactly represented the spoken word" [OED, 1989]. The final -b began to be silent about the time of the spelling shift (compare lamb, dumb). Modern French tombeau is from Vulgar Latin diminutive *tumbellus. Figurative of death or the end of earthly life by 1550s. The Tombs, slang for "New York City prison" is recorded from 1840. Adjective tombic is attested from 1874.

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