tail English · revision 5872

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 800}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /teɪl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|taile]], [[inh|ang|tægl]], tægel “posterior extremity”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*taglaz]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) which also gave Old High German zagal “tail”, Old Norse tagl “horse's tail” and Gothic tagl “hair”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Watkins and Etymonline derive it from PIE *doklos, from a root [[ine-pro|*dek-|t=something long and thin]], whose other descendants include Old Irish dúal “lock of hair” and perhaps Sanskrit daśā “fringe”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The posterior extremity of an animal: before 800 in the OED.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) Word Origins and the OED think the base meaning in Germanic was a hairy tail or tuft of hair, as on a horse, but already Old English applied it to the hairless tails of worms and bees.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the late 14th century it meant the hinder or concluding part of anything, such as a text or a storm.^(Etymonline) The descending stroke of a letter is from the 1590s, the reverse of a coin, opposite the head, from the 1680s,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) and ''tails'' for a tailcoat from 1857.^(Etymonline) ''To turn tail'' (1580s) seems first to have been a term of falconry.^(Etymonline) The verb meant at first to follow at the tail of (about 1500) and to attach to the tail (1520s);^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) to follow secretly, as a detective, is American from 1907,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) and ''to tail off'', to diminish, from 1854.^(Etymonline) Having one's tail between one's legs has described shame since the Middle Ages, and the tail wagging the dog is a mid-20th-century image.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 800 – an animal's tail.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – the hindmost part of anything.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1500 – to follow behind.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – ''to turn tail''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1680s – the reverse of a coin.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1854 – ''to tail off''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1857 – ''tails'', a tailcoat.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1907 – to follow secretly.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The rear part of an [[animal]]'s body, especially when it extends beyond the trunk.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The rear, bottom or last part of something: ''the tail of the queue''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The rear part of an [[aircraft]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The luminous stream of gas and dust behind a [[comet]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(tails)'' The reverse side of a [[coin]].^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(tails)'' A [[tailcoat]], or formal evening dress.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A person who follows another to watch them.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To follow and keep watch on someone.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(tail off)'' To become gradually smaller or weaker.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+ # To remove the tail or stalks of; to [[dock]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tailless]]

+ * [[tailed]]

+ * [[taillike]]

+ * [[tailer]]

+ * [[taillessly]]

+ * [[taillessness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cat-o'-nine-tails]]

+ * [[tail covert]]

+ * [[tail fin]]

+ * [[entail]]

+ * [[tailcoat]]

+ * [[tailgate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Tail in law, the limitation of an inheritance to particular heirs, as in an estate in tail or fee tail, is a different word, from Old French taille “a cutting, division”, from taillier “to cut” (see [[tailor]] and [[entail]]).^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}