1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Tom-Tom

TOM-TOM, or Tam-Tam, a native Indian and Asiatic word, reduplicated and onomatopoeic in form, for a drum, hence often loosely applied to the various types of primitive drum used for purposes of religious excitement, war, signalling, &c. by savage tribes throughout the world. The term is applied strictly to the metal gongs of the Far East, which are flat disks with a shallow rim.