tall definition

English tall definition

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.

   • 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 222716698:

     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.
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.
   • 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.

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

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Albanian tall definition

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”).^[1]

Verb

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

1. to laugh at
2. to mock

Derived terms

• tallje

References

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Aragonese tall definition

Etymology

From Latin talis.

Pronoun

tall

1. such

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Breton tall definition

Adjective

tall

1. Hard mutation of dall.

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Catalan tall definition

Etymology

Back-formation 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.

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Estonian tall definition

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

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Norwegian Bokmål tall definition

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.

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Norwegian Nynorsk tall definition

Noun

tall f (definite singular talla or talli, indefinite plural taller, definite plural tallene)

1. (pre-2012) alternative form of toll

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Old Irish tall definition

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

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Swedish tall definition

Etymology

From Old Norse þǫll. Cognate with Jamtish toll, Icelandic þöll.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tal/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

tall c

1. pine, Scots pine tree, Pinus sylvestris

Declension

Declension of tall
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	tall	tallen	tallar	tallarna
Genitive	talls	tallens	tallars	tallarnas

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