Etymologically
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taille

Etymology and origin of the French word taille

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
c. 1140, Gaimar (par taille)
Ultimate origin
Latin (tālea)

Pronunciation

Forms

taille f (plural tailles)[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Old French taillier (“to cut”) (modern tailler),[2][3][4][5][1] which continues Vulgar Latin *tāliō (“to cut”), probably derived from Latin tālea (“cutting, slip for planting”), so that it must first have been a farming word; compare Late Latin intertāliō (“to prune”).[3][6]

The tax sense comes from the tally, a stick split in two and notched .[2] The sense “stature” comes from the past participle taillé said of a well-built person;[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg say it was born among sculptors.[2][3] Compare Italian taglia, Catalan talla, Spanish talla and Portuguese talha.[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Geffrei Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis (about 1140) has par taille “by estimate”;[2][4] Wace (1160–74) uses it for a tax.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The tax called la taille, a direct tax of the Ancien Régime, gave taillable (1238) and taillon (1552).[3][2][1] The word also named the tally stick on which a tradesman and a customer notched their account (about 1188).[2]

From the idea of cutting came carving (about 1165), the cut of clothes (Chrétien de Troyes, 1176), pierre de taille “dressed stone” (about 1298), the incisions of an engraver (1621) and the pruning of fruit trees (1562).[2][8] The sense “height, stature” (about 1223) led to “size” in general, de taille “very large” (1957), and the waist: the body from shoulders to hips (Scarron, 1657), the narrow part between ribs and hips (Fénelon, 1718), then the waist of a garment (1839) and a woman's bodice (1842).[2][3] In old vocal music taille was the tenor part.[3][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1140 – “Estimate”, Gaimar.[2]
  • 1160–74 – A tax, Wace.[2]
  • 1176 – The cut of clothes, Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • c. 1188 – A tally stick.[2]
  • c. 1223 – “Stature”.[3]
  • c. 1298 – Pierre de taille, Marco Polo's book.[2]
  • 1657 – “Waist”, Scarron.[2]
  • 1957 – De taille “very big”.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Cutting, pruning, trimming; the way a thing is cut: la taille de la vigne, la taille d'un diamant, pierre de taille, ashlar.[8][1]
  2. Height, stature: personne de petite taille; figuratively, stature, calibre.[8]
  3. size: de la taille de, as big as, de taille, considerable, être de taille à, to be up to; clothing size: quelle est votre taille ?.[8][1][2]
  4. The waist; the waistline of a garment: tour de taille, taille de guêpe, a wasp waist.[1][2]
  5. (history) A direct tax of the Ancien Régime; tallage.[1][3]
  6. (baroque music) The tenor part.[1]

Word family

  • taillable
  • taillon

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Taille.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/taille. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·