Tham

See also: tham, thảm, þam, and THAM

English

Etymology 1

Tham is the local pronunciation of the word for dharma in the area where the script is used, e.g. Thai ธรรม (tam), Lao ທຳ (tham) and Northern Thai ᨵᩢᨾ᩠ᨾ᩺/ธัมม์, all derived from Pali dhamma. Tham script is a localisation of the phrase dharma script.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʌm/
• Homophone: tum

Proper noun

Tham

1. The script traditionally used for Buddhist religious study in the vicinity of Northern Thailand and Laos.

   Synonym: Tai Tham

2. The Lao variant of the above.
   • 2007, Peter Koret, “Past, Present and Future in Buddhist Prophetic Literature of the Lao”, in Ian Harris, editor, Buddhism, Power and Political Order‎^[1], Routledge, →ISBN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 May 2018, page 148:

     In actuality, however, in many cases the use of a given script denotes less the content of a given text than its social use. Works in Tham are typically stored and performed inside the temple, whereas writings recorded in Lao are kept and performed in private homes.

Usage notes

Usually used in the collocation Tham script or, especially in computing usage, Tai Tham.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Cantonese 譚／谭 (taam4), etc.

Proper noun

Tham (plural Thams)

1. A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Tham is the 19834^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 1355 individuals. Tham is most common among Asian/Pacific Islander (87.75%) individuals.

Anagrams

• math, math.