The tom is a plucked lamellophone thumb piano used in the traditional music of the Nuer^[1] and Anuak ethnic groups of western Ethiopia. The instruments is also called thoom Otieno and may also be spelled toom and thom.^[2]

Thoom is a Anywaa word.^[2] Besides being a word for a thumb piano, the word is used generally by parts of the country’s population to mean “musical instrument.”^[1] It is also the name of an Ethiopian lyre. ^[2]

The state-run Ras Theatre brought music from different parts of Ethiopia to its stage, including the ‘’tom’’, played by the “Nilo-Saharan peoples from the Gambela Region.“ ^[1] The instrument was also used in some pieces performed by Orchestra Ethiopia in the 1960s.