name, noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Swidden uncountable
2. 2
   A slash and burn agricultural technique used in Madagascar. uncountable

Proper Noun

1. 1
   A river in Devon, England.
2. 2
   A diminutive of the female given name Octavia.

   "'Octavia? What the hell are you doing here?' 'Working,' said Tavy. 'I lost my job so Jago offered me another.'"

3. 3
   Tavistock

Example

More examples

"'Octavia? What the hell are you doing here?' 'Working,' said Tavy. 'I lost my job so Jago offered me another.'"

Etymology

Of Brythonic origin, from Proto-Brythonic *tam-, meaning either "dark" or "to flow." See Thames and its listed cognates.

Related phrases

Mary Tavyslash and burn

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.