tall

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.)"^[1]

Pronunciation

• (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

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.

   Being tall is an advantage in basketball.

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:

     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.

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.
4. (chiefly US, of a cup of coffee) A cup of coffee smaller than grande, usually 8 ounces.
5. (obsolete) Obsequious; obedient.
6. (obsolete) Seemly; suitable; fitting, becoming, comely; attractive, handsome.
7. (obsolete) Bold; brave; courageous; valiant.
8. (archaic) Fine; proper; admirable; great; excellent.

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”)^[2].

Verb

tall (first-person singular past tense talla, participle tallur)

1. to laugh at
2. to mock

References

Adjective

tall

1. Hard mutation of dall.

Etymology

From Latin talea.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

tall m (plural talls)

1. cut

Noun

tall (genitive talle, partitive talle)

1. lamb

Etymology

From Old Norse tal.

Noun

tall n (definite singular tallet, indefinite plural tall, definite plural talla or tallene)

1. number, numeral, figure

See also

• tal (Nynorsk)

References

• “tall” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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

Determiner

tall

1. that (used after the noun, which is preceded by the definite article)

   a tadall tall ― that visit

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tal/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

tall c

1. pine, Scots pine tree, Pinus sylvestris