tallow

Etymology

From Middle English talwe, talugh, taluȝ, from Old English *tealh, *tealg, (compare Old English tælg, telg (“dye”)), from Proto-Germanic *talgaz (compare Dutch talg, German Talg), from Proto-Indo-European *del- (“flow”) (compare Middle Irish delt (“dew”), Old Armenian տեղ (teł, “heavy rain”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tæləʊ/

  Rhymes: -æləʊ

Noun

tallow (uncountable)

1. a hard animal fat obtained from suet etc.; used to make candles, soap and lubricants
   • 1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, A House Is Built, chapter VIII, section ii:

     Nor were the wool prospects much better. The pastoral industry, which had weathered the severe depression of the early forties by recourse to boiling down the sheep for their tallow, and was now firmly re-established as the staple industry of the colony, was threatened once more with eclipse.

Verb

tallow (third-person singular simple present tallows, present participle tallowing, simple past and past participle tallowed)

1. To grease or smear with tallow.
2. To cause to have a large quantity of tallow; to fatten.

   to tallow sheep