English Online Dictionary. What means tall? What does tall mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English tall, talle, tal (“seemly, becoming, handsome, good-looking, excellent, good, valiant, lively in speech, bold, great, large, big”), from Old English *tæl, ġetæl (“swift, ready, having mastery of”), from Proto-Germanic *talaz (“submissive, pliable, obedient”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol-, *del- (“to aim, calculate, adjust, reckon”).
Cognate with Scots tal (“high, lofty, tall”), Old Frisian tel (“swift”), Old Saxon gital (“quick”), Old High German gizal (“active, agile”), Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌰𐌻𐍃 (untals, “indocile, disobedient”).
The Oxford English Dictionary notes: "The sense development [of tall] is remarkable, but is paralleled more or less by that of other adjectives expressing estimation, such as buxom, canny, clean, clever, cunning, deft, elegant, handsome, pretty, proper; German klein, as compared with English clean, presents the antithesis to modern tall as compared to tall in early Middle English. It has been conjectured that in the sense 'high of stature' it is a different word, adopted from the Welsh tal in some sense; but the latter is, according to Professor Rhŷs, merely a 16th-century borrowing of the English word (in Owen Pughe's Dictionary erroneously mixed up with the genuine Welsh word tal (“end, brow, forehead”), with which it has no possible connection.)"
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /tɔːl/
- (US) IPA(key): /tɔl/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /tɑl/
- Rhymes: -ɔːl
Adjective
tall (comparative taller, superlative tallest)
- (of a person) Having a vertical extent greater than the average. For example, somebody with a height of over 6 feet would generally be considered to be tall.
- (of a building, etc.) Having its top a long way up; having a great vertical (and often greater than horizontal) extent; high.
- (of a story) Hard to believe, such as a tall story or a tall tale.
- (chiefly US, of a cup of coffee) Smaller than grande, usually 8 ounces (~ 230 ml).
- Coordinate terms: grande, venti
- (obsolete) Obsequious; obedient.
- (obsolete) Seemly; suitable; fitting, becoming, comely; attractive, handsome.
- (obsolete) Bold; brave; courageous; valiant.
- (archaic) Fine; proper; admirable; great; excellent.
Antonyms
- (of a person): short
- (of a building): short, low, low-rise
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Welsh: tal
Translations
Noun
tall (plural talls)
- (possibly nonstandard) Someone or something that is tall.
- A clothing size for taller people.
- Do you have this in a tall?
- A tall serving of a drink, especially one from Starbucks, which contains 12 ounces.
References
- tall at OneLook Dictionary Search
Albanian
Etymology
From Proto-Albanian *talna, related to Lithuanian tylù (“to become silent”), Old Irish tuilid (“to sleep”), Proto-Slavic *toliti (“to persuade, to make quiet”).
Verb
tall (first-person singular past tense talla, participle tallur)
- to ridicule, mock
- to deride, laugh at
Derived terms
- tallje
References
Aragonese
Etymology
From Latin talis.
Pronoun
tall
- such
Breton
Adjective
tall
- Hard mutation of dall.
Catalan
Etymology
Deverbal from tallar.
Pronunciation
- (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA(key): /ˈtaʎ/
- Rhymes: -aʎ
Noun
tall m (plural talls)
- cutting edge
- edge (of a page)
- cut, slice
- cutaway (of a guitar)
- (golf) cut
Further reading
- “tall” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Estonian
Etymology 1
Noun
tall (genitive talle, partitive talle)
- lamb
Declension
Note: the short plural forms from illative onward are almost never used.
Etymology 2
Noun
tall (genitive talli, partitive talli)
- horse stable
Declension
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Old Norse tal (“talk, speech, number”), from Proto-Germanic *talą (“number, speech”).
Noun
tall n (definite singular tallet, indefinite plural tall, definite plural talla or tallene)
- number, numeral, figure
Derived terms
See also
- tal (Nynorsk)
References
- “tall” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
tall f (definite singular talla or talli, indefinite plural taller, definite plural tallene)
- (pre-2012) alternative form of toll
Old Irish
Adverb
tall
- there
- Is bec ndi dechur fil etarru siu ⁊ tall. ― There is little difference between them here and there.
- then
- amal du·ratsat sacaird tall bendachta forsin popul ― as the priests had blessed the people then
Descendants
- Irish: thall
- Scottish Gaelic: thall
Determiner
tall
- that (used after the noun, which is preceded by the definite article)
- a tadall tall ― that visit
Synonyms
- sin
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Norse þǫll. Cognate with Jamtish toll, Icelandic þöll.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tal/
Noun
tall c
- pine, Scots pine tree, Pinus sylvestris
Declension
Synonyms
- fura
- fur (uncountable)
Related terms
- tallkotte
- tallväxter
See also
- barrväxter
- furu
- furutimmer
- furuträ
- falla som en fura
Further reading
- tall in Svensk ordbok.
Anagrams
- allt