tall
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
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.)"[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK) IPA(key): /tɔːl/
- (US) IPA(key): /tɔl/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /tɑl/
Audio (US cot-caught merged) (file) Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔːl
Adjective[edit]
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.
- Being tall is an advantage in basketball.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, […] , and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.
- (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).
- (obsolete) Obsequious; obedient.
- (obsolete) Seemly; suitable; fitting, becoming, comely; attractive, handsome.
- (obsolete) Bold; brave; courageous; valiant.
- (archaic) Fine; proper; admirable; great; excellent.
Antonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- → Welsh: tal
Translations[edit]
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun[edit]
tall (plural talls)
- (possibly nonstandard) Someone or something that is tall.
- 1912, George Francis Atkinson, Botany for High Schools, Henry Holt and Company:
- But in the second generation of hybrids (from seed of the first) talls and dwarfs were both present, and in the proportion of twelve talls to four dwarfs.
- 2009, Arianne Cohen, The Tall Book: A Celebration of Life from on High, page 197:
- The industries that best accommodate talls are those that have faced personal injury lawsuits.
- 2018 June 5, Chris Robinson, “Fremantle Dockers defender Alex Pearce faces fitness test on injured ankle”, in The West Australian[1]:
- Fremantle remains unsure about the status a pair of key talls ahead of a defining clash with Adelaide at Optus Stadium.
- 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[edit]
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary T, p. 57.
- tall at OneLook Dictionary Search
Albanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-Albanian *talna, related to Lithuanian tylù (“to become silent”), Old Irish tuilid (“to sleep”), Proto-Slavic *toliti (“to persuade, to make quiet”).[1]
Verb[edit]
tall (first-person singular past tense talla, participle tallur)
Derived terms[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Orel, Vladimir (1998) Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 448
Aragonese[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronoun[edit]
tall
Breton[edit]
Adjective[edit]
tall
- Hard mutation of dall.
Catalan[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
tall m (plural talls)
Further reading[edit]
- “tall” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Estonian[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Noun[edit]
tall (genitive talle, partitive talle)
Declension[edit]
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | tall | talled |
genitive | talle | tallede |
partitive | talle | talli / tallesid |
illative | talle / tallesse | talledesse / tallisse |
inessive | talles | talledes / tallis |
elative | tallest | talledest / tallist |
allative | tallele | talledele / tallile |
adessive | tallel | talledel / tallil |
ablative | tallelt | talledelt / tallilt |
translative | talleks | talledeks / talliks |
terminative | talleni | talledeni |
essive | tallena | talledena |
abessive | talleta | talledeta |
comitative | tallega | talledega |
Note: the short plural forms from illative onward are almost never used.
Etymology 2[edit]
Noun[edit]
tall (genitive talli, partitive talli)
- horse stable
Declension[edit]
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | tall | tallid |
genitive | talli | tallide |
partitive | talli | talle / tallisid |
illative | talli / tallisse | tallidesse / tallesse |
inessive | tallis | tallides / talles |
elative | tallist | tallidest / tallest |
allative | tallile | tallidele / tallele |
adessive | tallil | tallidel / tallel |
ablative | tallilt | tallidelt / tallelt |
translative | talliks | tallideks / talleks |
terminative | tallini | tallideni |
essive | tallina | tallidena |
abessive | tallita | tallideta |
comitative | talliga | tallidega |
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old Norse tal (“talk, speech, number”), from Proto-Germanic *talą (“number, speech”).
Noun[edit]
tall n (definite singular tallet, indefinite plural tall, definite plural talla or tallene)
Derived terms[edit]
See also[edit]
- tal (Nynorsk)
References[edit]
- “tall” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]
Noun[edit]
tall f (definite singular talla or talli, indefinite plural taller, definite plural tallene)
Old Irish[edit]
Adverb[edit]
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[edit]
Determiner[edit]
tall
- that (used after the noun, which is preceded by the definite article)
- a tadall tall ― that visit
Synonyms[edit]
Swedish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old Norse þǫll. Cognate with Jamtish toll, Icelandic þöll.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
tall c
- pine, Scots pine tree, Pinus sylvestris
Declension[edit]
Declension of tall | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | tall | tallen | tallar | tallarna |
Genitive | talls | tallens | tallars | tallarnas |
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
See also[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- tall in Svensk ordbok.
Anagrams[edit]
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɔːl
- Rhymes:English/ɔːl/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- American English
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with archaic senses
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nonstandard terms
- en:Size
- Albanian terms inherited from Proto-Albanian
- Albanian terms derived from Proto-Albanian
- Albanian lemmas
- Albanian verbs
- Aragonese terms inherited from Latin
- Aragonese terms derived from Latin
- Aragonese lemmas
- Aragonese pronouns
- Breton non-lemma forms
- Breton mutated adjectives
- Breton hard-mutation forms
- Catalan deverbals
- Catalan 1-syllable words
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Catalan/aʎ
- Rhymes:Catalan/aʎ/1 syllable
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan countable nouns
- Catalan masculine nouns
- ca:Golf
- Estonian lemmas
- Estonian nouns
- Estonian külm-type nominals
- Estonian riik-type nominals
- Norwegian Bokmål terms inherited from Old Norse
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian Bokmål terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål neuter nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk feminine nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk pre-2012 forms
- Old Irish lemmas
- Old Irish adverbs
- Old Irish terms with usage examples
- Old Irish determiners
- Swedish terms inherited from Old Norse
- Swedish terms derived from Old Norse
- Swedish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Swedish terms with audio links
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- sv:Conifers
- sv:Trees
- sv:Pines