tall

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]

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tɔːl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /tɔl/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /tɑl/

• Audio (US cot-caught merged)

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• Audio (UK)

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• Audio

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• Rhymes: -ɔːl

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.

• (of a person): short
• (of a building): short, low, low-rise

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:

     Fremantle remains unsure about the status a pair of key talls ahead of a defining clash with Adelaide at Optus Stadium.

• tall at OneLook Dictionary Search

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].

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

1. to laugh at
2. to mock

tall

1. Hard mutation of dall.

From Latin talea.

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

tall m (plural talls)

1. cut

tall (genitive talle, partitive talle)

1. lamb

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

From Old Norse tal.

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

1. number, numeral, figure

• tal (Nynorsk)

• “tall” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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

• Irish: thall
• Scottish Gaelic: thall

tall

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

   a tadall tall ― that visit

• sin

• IPA^(key): /tal/

• audio

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tall c

1. pine, Scots pine tree, Pinus sylvestris

• fura
• fur (uncountable)

• tallkotte
• tallväxter

• barrväxter
• furu
• furutimmer
• furuträ
• falla som en fura