tall

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)

1. (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.
2. (of a building, etc.) Having its top a long way up; having a great vertical (and often greater than horizontal) extent; high.
3. (of a story) Hard to believe, such as a tall story or a tall tale.
5. (chiefly US, of a cup of coffee) Smaller than grande, usually 8 ounces (~ 230 ml).

   Coordinate terms: grande, venti

6. (obsolete) Obsequious; obedient.
7. (obsolete) Seemly; suitable; fitting, becoming, comely; attractive, handsome.
8. (obsolete) Bold; brave; courageous; valiant.
9. (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)

1. (possibly nonstandard) Someone or something that is tall.
2. A clothing size for taller people.

   Do you have this in a tall?

3. 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)

1. to ridicule, mock
2. to deride, laugh at

Derived terms

• tallje

References

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin talis.

Pronoun

tall

1. such

Breton

Adjective

tall

1. Hard mutation of dall.

Catalan

Etymology

Deverbal from tallar.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈtaʎ/
• Rhymes: -aʎ

Noun

tall m (plural talls)

1. cutting edge
2. edge (of a page)
3. cut, slice
4. cutaway (of a guitar)
5. (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)

1. lamb

Declension

Note: the short plural forms from illative onward are almost never used.

Etymology 2

Noun

tall (genitive talli, partitive talli)

1. 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)

1. 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)

1. (pre-2012) alternative form of toll

Old Irish

Adverb

tall

1. there

   Is bec ndi dechur fil etarru siu ⁊ tall. ― There is little difference between them here and there.

2. 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

1. 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

1. 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