taille (countable and uncountable, plural tailles)
(historical) A form of taxation levied on the land of peasants in pre-Revolutionary France.
(obsolete) A tally; an account scored on a piece of wood.
(music, obsolete) The tenor voice or part.
(music, obsolete) The part for the tenor viol or viola.
• tallie
Source: Wiktionary
Taille, n. Etym: [F. See Tally, Tailor.]
1. A tally; an account scored on a piece of wood. [Obs.] Whether that he paid or took by taille. Chaucer.
2. (O. F. Law)
Definition: Any imposition levied by the king, or any other lord, upon his subjects. The taille, as it still subsists in France, may serve as an example of those ancient tallages. It was a tax upon the profits of the farmer, which they estimate by the stock that he has upon the farm. A. Smith.
3. (Mus.)
Definition: The French name for the tenor voice or part; also, for the tenor viol or viola.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
22 February 2025
(noun) the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., ‘the father of the bride’ instead of ‘the bride’s father’
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
