tail
verb
- follow
noun
- rear appendage of organism
- diacritical mark
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈteɪ̯l/ / [ˈtʰeɪ̯l] / /ˈteːl/
adj
Etymology: From Anglo-Norman, probably from a shortened form of entail.
- Limited; abridged; reduced; curtailed.
“estate tail”
name
Etymology: From tail, a semantic loan from Chinese 尾.
- A Chinese constellation coinciding with the tail of Scorpius, one of the 28 lunar mansions and the tail of Azure Dragon.
“For quotations using this term, see Citations:Tail.”
noun
Etymology: From Anglo-Norman, probably from a shortened form of entail.
- Limitation of inheritance to certain heirs.
“tail male”
“in tail”
verb
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *taglą Proto-West Germanic *tagl Old English tæġl Middle English tayl English tail From Middle English tail, tayl, teil, from Old English tæġl (“tail”), from Proto-West Germanic *tagl, from Proto-Germanic *taglą (“hair, fiber; hair of a tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *doḱ- (“hair of the tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to tear, fray, shred”). Cognate with Scots tail (“tail”), Saterland Frisian Tail (“tail, end”), West Frisian teil (“tail”), Dutch teil (“tail, haulm, blade”), Low German Tagel (“twisted scourge, whip of thongs and ropes; end of a rope”), German Zagel (“tail”), dialectal Danish tavl (“hair of the tail”), Swedish tagel (“hair of the tail, horsehair”), Norwegian tagl (“tail”), Icelandic tagl (“tail, horsetail, ponytail”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐌻 (tagl, “hair”). In some senses, apparently by a generalization of the usual opposition between head and tail.
- To hold by the end; said of a timber when it rests upon a wall or other support; with in or into
- To swing with the stern in a certain direction; said of a vessel at anchor.
“This vessel tails downstream.”
- To follow or hang to, like a tail; to be attached closely to, as that which can not be evaded.
“Nevertheless his bond of two thousand pounds, wherewith he was tailed, continued uncancelled.”
- To follow and observe surreptitiously.
“Tail that car!”
- To pull or draw by the tail.
“The conqu'ring foe they soon afailid, First Trulla stav'd, and Cerdon tail'd”