tall
Part of speech: adj
noun
Morphological type: simple
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.)"
Inflected forms:
form: taller
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: tallest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: talls
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Having a top that is far up (contrast: deep (having a bottom that is far down' ).)
pos: adj
examples: Being tall is an advantage in basketball.
Ostriches are the tallest living birds.
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.
He′d been packed in with all the other journos, standing out only in that he was taller than most and didn′t make as much noise.
gloss: Having a top that is far up (contrast: deep (having a bottom that is far down' ).)
pos: adj
tags: usually
examples: Tall trees, at least about 30m high.
To him it seemed that the Bornean rainforests, the tallest on Earth, were places that had: 'remained untouched and unchanged since remote geological epochs[.]'
gloss: Having a top that is far up (contrast: deep (having a bottom that is far down' ).)
pos: adj
tags: US
gloss: Hard to believe, such as a tall story or a tall tale.
pos: adj
examples: "That's tall talk."
"Not an inch taller than the truth."
gloss: Old senses that arose before the height-related senses
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
gloss: Old senses that arose before the height-related senses
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
gloss: Old senses that arose before the height-related senses
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
gloss: Old senses that arose before the height-related senses
pos: adj
tags: archaic
gloss: Someone or something that is tall.
pos: noun
tags: nonstandard
possibly
examples: 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.
The industries that best accommodate talls are those that have faced personal injury lawsuits.
Fremantle remains unsure about the status a pair of key talls ahead of a defining clash with Adelaide at Optus Stadium.
gloss: A clothing size for taller people.
pos: noun
examples: Do you have this in a tall?
gloss: A tall serving of a drink, especially one from Starbucks, which contains 12 ounces.
pos: noun
Synonyms: elevated
eminent
exalted
high
lofty
tall
Antonyms: short
deep
shallow
Derived words: big and tall
cut down the tall poppy
feel eight feet tall
feel nine feet tall
feel ten feet tall
feel twelve feet tall
keep it tall
mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails
megatall
plain tall
ride tall in the saddle
stand tall
supertall
tall bluestem
tall-case clock
tall, dark and handsome
tall drink
tall drink of water
tall fescue
tall glass of water
tallgrass
tallie
tall in the saddle
tallish
tall man
tall meadowrue
tallness
tall nightshade
tall oaks from little acorns grow
tall oil
tall one
tall order
tall pawn
tall pocosin
tall poppy
tall poppy syndrome
tall reed
tall ship
tallsome
tall story
tall tale
tall thistle
tally
untall
walk tall
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: hoog
lang: Southern Altai
word: бийик
roman: biyik
lang: Arabic
word: طَوِيل
roman: ṭawīl
lang: Arabic
word: طويل
roman: ṭawīl
lang: Arabic
word: طويل
roman: ṭawīl
lang: Arabic
word: عالي
roman: ʕāli
lang: Armenian
word: բարձր
roman: barjr
lang: Aromanian
word: analtu (roa-rup)
lang: Assamese
word: ওখ
roman: ükh
lang: Azerbaijani
word: hündür
lang: Azerbaijani
word: uca
lang: Azerbaijani
word: yüksək
lang: Belarusian
word: высо́кі
roman: vysóki
lang: Bengali
word: উঁচু
roman: ũcu
lang: Central Bikol
word: halangkaw
lang: Breton
word: uhel
lang: Bulgarian
word: висо́к
roman: visók
lang: Burmese
word: မြင့်
roman: mrang.
lang: Catalan
word: alt
lang: Chinese Cantonese
word: 高
roman: gou¹
lang: Chinese
word: 懸 /悬
roman: zh-min-nan
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 高
roman: gāo
lang: Czech
word: vysoký
lang: Danish
word: høj
lang: Dutch
word: hoog
lang: Esperanto
word: alta
lang: Estonian
word: kõrge
lang: Faroese
word: høgur
lang: Faroese
word: háur
lang: Finnish
word: korkea
lang: French
word: haut
lang: Galician
word: alto
lang: Georgian
word: მაღალი
roman: maɣali
lang: German
word: hoch
lang: Ancient Greek
word: μακρός
roman: makrós
lang: Hebrew
word: גָּבוֹהַּ \ גָּבֹהַּ
roman: gavóah
lang: Hindi
word: ऊँचा
roman: ū̃cā
lang: Hindi
word: लम्बा
roman: lambā
lang: Hungarian
word: magas
lang: Irish
word: ard
lang: Italian
word: alto
lang: Japanese
word: 高い
roman: takai
lang: Javanese
word: dhuwur
lang: Kazakh
word: зәулім
roman: zäulım
lang: Korean
word: 높다
roman: nopda
lang: Kumyk
word: бийик
roman: biyik
lang: Kyrgyz
word: бийик
roman: biyik
lang: Latin
word: altus
lang: Latin
word: prōcērus
lang: Latvian
word: augsts
lang: Livonian
word: kuordi
lang: Livonian
word: kuordõ
lang: Macedonian
word: висок
roman: visok
lang: Malay
word: tinggi
lang: Brunei Malay
word: tinggi
lang: Maranao
word: malekeiog
lang: Marathi
word: उंच
roman: uñca
lang: Neapolitan
word: auto
lang: Pashto
word: لوړ
roman: lwaṛ
lang: Pashto
word: جګ
roman: jëg
lang: Persian
word: بلند
roman: boland
lang: Polish
word: wysoki
lang: Portuguese
word: alto
lang: Romanian
word: înalt
lang: Russian
word: высо́кий
roman: vysókij
lang: Sanskrit
word: उच्च
roman: ucca
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: вѝсок
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: vìsok
lang: Slovak
word: vysoký
lang: Slovene
word: visòk
lang: Lower Sorbian
word: wusoki
lang: Spanish
word: alto
lang: Swahili
word: refu
lang: Swedish
word: hög
lang: Tagalog
word: matayog
lang: Tajik
word: баланд
roman: baland
lang: Tamil
word: உயரமான
roman: uyaramāṉa
lang: Telugu
word: పొడుగు
roman: poḍugu
lang: Thai
word: สูง
roman: sǔung
lang: Turkish
word: uzun
lang: Turkish
word: yüksek
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: یوكسك
roman: yüksek
lang: Ukrainian
word: висо́кий
roman: vysókyj
lang: Urdu
word: لمبا
roman: lambā
lang: Venetan
word: alt
lang: Vietnamese
word: cao
lang: Zhuang
word: sang
lang: Galician
word: longo
lang: Tajik
word: калон
roman: kalon