tamen

See also: tamén and tāmen

Esperanto

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin tamen. First attested in 1887.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtamen/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -amen
• Syllabification: ta‧men

Adverb

tamen

2. however, nevertheless

   Mi devis rezigni miajn dezirojn kaj celojn, sed nun mi tamen estas kontenta.

   I had to resign my aspirations and objectives, but now I am nevertheless content.

   • 2025 November 27, Renée Triolle, “La unua eŭropano, kiu vizitis Tibeton Alexandra David-Néel (1868-1969)”, in uea.facila‎^[1], archived from the original on 23 December 2025:

     Dum la jaroj 1897 ĝis 1900, ŝi kuraĝis vivi kun amanto, muzikisto, kun kiu ŝi tamen ne edziniĝis.

     Between 1897 and 1900, she had the courage to live with a lover, musician, to whom she did not get married.

     (literally, “During the years 1897 until 1900, she became courageous to live with a lover, musician, with who she however did not become a wife.”)

Particle

tamen

2. (in response to a negative question or statement) yes; indeed

   Synonym: jes ja

   "Vi ne scipovas stiri biciklon." — "Tamen!"

   "You don't know how to ride a bicycle." — "Yes I do!"

   "Ĉu vi ne venas al la festo?" — "Tamen!"

   "Are you not coming to the party?" — "Indeed I am!"

Further reading

Grammatical texts

• Wennergren, Bertilo (1997-present), “14.3.17. Tamen”, in Plena Manlibro de Esperanta Gramatiko‎^[2]
• Kalocsay; Waringhien (1985), Plena Analiza Gramatiko‎^[3], →ISBN, page 297

Monolingual dictionaries

• “tamen”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “tamen”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-present
• Grosjean, Émile (1980), “tamen”, in Plena Vortaro de Esperanto‎^[4], →OL, page 463
• Bein, Kazimierz (1922), “tamen”, in Vortaro de Esperanto‎^[5], →OL, page 158

Multilingual dictionaries

• Wells, John C. (1992), “anyhow, still, though, yet”, in Concise Esperanto and English Dictionary‎^[6], →ISBN, pages 175, 381, 393, 418
• Benson, Peter J. (1995), “all, even, nonetheless, still, then, though, yet”, in Comprehensive English-Esperanto Dictionary‎^[7], →ISBN, pages 31, 195, 348, 501, 531, 534, 592
• Butler, Montagu C. (1967), “tamen”, in Esperanto-English Dictionary‎^[8], →OL, page 403
• Motteau, Achille (1907), “tamen”, in Esperanto-English Dictionary‎^[9], →OCLC, page 149

Ido

Etymology

From Esperanto, from Latin tamen.

Adverb

tamen

1. however, nevertheless

Japanese

Romanization

tamen

1. Rōmaji transcription of ためん

Latin

Etymology

From tam +‎ -em. Last particle in īdem. Compare with its later doublet: tandem, both with original meaning supposedly "so(much)ever".

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈta.mɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtaː.men]
• Note: unlike in tametsī, the graphic m does represent the bilabial nasal /m/.

Adverb

tamen (not comparable)

1. (usually postpositive, also initial and final) however, in spite of this
   1. (preceded by et, atque/ac, neque/nec, at, sed, vērum)

      ac tamen... ― and yet...

      • 106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Atticus 13:

        ex duobus librīs contulī in quattuor: grandiōrēs sunt omnīnō quam erant illī, sed tamen multa dētracta

        from two books have I arranged four: they are ampler, in every way, than what used to be in that one [the previous arrangement], and yet many [were] withdrawn

2. (expressing a concession) nevertheless, yet, still, even
   • 166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 864:

     Simo: Nihil audiō! Ego iam tē commōtum reddam!
     Davus: Tamen etsī hoc vērum·st?
     Simo: Tamen!

     Simo: I'm not listening! Your heart strings are about to get a real good tugging!
     [literally, “I'm about to make you greatly moved!”]
     Davus: Even if it's true?
     Simo: Even so!

3. all the same, just the same (in spite of appearances of the contrary)
   • c. 191 BCE, Plautus, Pseudolus 405:

     […] vīginti minās, quae nūsquam nunc sunt gentium, inveniam tamen.

     […] those twenty mines, which are currently nowhere to be found, I'll find them all the same.

4. (in an aside) although, even if
5. (in a limiting clause) (also with ut or ne) at least

Synonyms

• (nevertheless, yet): etsi, quamquam, at, sed, ast

Derived terms

• tamendem
• attamen
• tamen etsī
• vērumtamen

Related terms

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			realis		irrealis		interrogative				indefinite					alternative
	proximal	medial	distal	anaphoric	identity	conditional	negative		indefinite	irrelative / emphatic	relative		irrelative	free choice	universal	negative polarity
basic	hic	iste istic	ille illic	is	ipse īdem	sīquis	nēquisquam nēmō̆ nihil nūllus	numquis	ecquis ecquī ecquisnam ecquīnam	quisnam quīnam	quis quī	quisquis quīcumque	quīdam aliquis, quis aliquī, quī quispiam	quīvis quīlibet	quisque	quisquam ūllus	alius
comparative	huiusmodī huiuscemodī	istī̆usmodī	illī̆usmodī	eiusmodī	eiusdemmodī	sīcuiusmodī	nēcuiusquammodī	numcuiusmodī		cuiusnammodī	cuiusmodī	cuiusmodīcumque	alicuiusmodī cuiusdammodī	cuiusvīsmodī	cuiusquemodī	cuiusquammodī	alterī̆usmodī
dual							neuter			uternam	uter	utercumque	alteruter	utervīs uterlibet	uterque		alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	sīcubī	nusquam nūllibī			ubinam	ubī̆	ubī̆cumque ubiubī̆	alicubī̆ uspiam	ubivīs ubilibet	ubīque	usquam	alibī aliās
source	hinc	ºistim istinc	ºillim illinc	inde	indidem	sīcunde	°nūllunde			undenam	ºcum unde	undecumque undeunde	alicunde	°undelibet	undique	°undiquam	aliunde
destination	hūc hōc °hōrsum	istūc istōc °istōrsum	illūc illōc °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	sīquō	nusquam °nūllōrsum	numquō	ecquō	quōnam	quō quōrsum	quōcumque quōquō °quōrsumcumque	aliquō quōpiam °aliquōvorsum	quōvīs quōlibet	quōque	quōquam	aliō aliōrsum
means, way, path, place	hāc	istāc	illāc	eā	eādem	sīquā	nēquāquam haudquāquam	numquā	ecquā	quānam	quā	quācumque quāquā	aliquā	quāvīs quālibet	quāque	°quāquam ūllā	aliā
distance	hāctenus	°istātenus °istāctenus	°illātenus °illāctenus	eātenus			nūllātenus		°ecquātenus	°quātenusnam	quātenus	°quātenuscumque °quāquātenus	aliquātenus quādantenus	°quātenusvīs °quātenuslibet		ūllātenus	aliātenus
reason	°hācpropter °hōccircā	°istāpropter	°illāpropter	eāpropter eōcircā			°nullāpropter °nullōcircā				cūr quāpropter quōcircā quārē		°quādampropter		°quōquecircā		°aliāpropter
manner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita sīc eō modō	item itidem	sīquī	nihil nihilō neutiquam °neutī̆que nēquīquam nē quidem nūllō modō	numquī	ecquī	utinam	ut prout quī quō modō quōmodo quemadmodum quiter quārē	utcumque utut proutcumque quōmodocumque °quemadmodumcumque	quī quōdam modō aliquō modō	quōmodolibet	utīque	°utiquam °quīquam ūllō modō	aliter aliōquī alterō/aliō modō
time	†num nunc		ōlim	tum tunc	simul	sīquandō̆	numquam	°numquandō̆	ecquandō̆	quandōnam	quandō̆ ‡cum	quandōcumque quandōque cumque °quandōnē °quandōquandō °cumcumque	quondam aliquandō̆	°quandōlibet	quandōque	umquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen †tandem						quam	quamcumque †quamquam	aliquam	quamvīs quamlibet	quamque
size				tantus	tantusdem							quantus	quantuscumque quantusquantus	aliquantus	quantusvīs quantuslibet	quantusque
quality				tālis					°ecquālis	quālisnam	quālis	quāliscumque quālisquālis	aliquālis	quālislibet	quālisque
number				tot	totidem					°quotnam °quotinam	quot	quotquot quotcumque	aliquot	quotlibet
order/fractional				totus							quotus	°quotuscumque	°aliquotus	°quotuslibet	°quotusque °quotusquisque
repetition				totiēns			nullotiēns				quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns	quotiēnslibet	quotiēnsque °quotiēnsquisque
multiplication				totuplex							quotuplex
proportion				°totuplus							quotuplus
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat changed ° Rare ‡ Only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative.

Descendants

• Sardinian: tàmen, tàmes
• → Esperanto: tamen
• → Ido: tamen
• → Interlingua: tamen
• Italian: tame

References

• “tamen” on page 2098 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page ???

Further reading

• “tamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “tamen”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Middle English

Etymology 1

From tame (“tame”) +‎ -en (infinitival suffix).

Verb

tamen (third-person singular simple present tameth, present participle tamende, tamynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle tamed)

1. to tame, domesticate
2. to subdue, overcome

Descendants

• English: tame
• Scots: tame

References

• “tāmen, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Shortening of attamen (“to cut, pierce”) or entamen (“to injure”), both from Old French.

Verb

tamen (third-person singular simple present tameth, present participle tamende, tamynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle tamed)

1. to cut into, carve
2. to broach (a keg, bottle; a subject)

Alternative forms

• tame

Descendants

• English: tame
• Scots: tame

References

• “tāmen, v.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Tumleo

Noun

tamen

1. woman

References

• Stephen Adolphe Wurm, New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study (1976)