tailor English · revision 990

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈteɪlə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈteɪlɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|taillour]], [[bor|xno|taillour]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from Old French ''tailleor'' “cutter”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from ''taillier'' “to cut”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|la-lat|tāliāre|t=to split]], from [[la|tālea|t=slender stick, cutting]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) It is related to [[tally]] and [[detail]].^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One whose business is to make clothes, especially men's outer garments (1297).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Literally a “cutter”, the French word was also used of a stonemason.^(Etymonline) The OED notes that although historically the tailor was the cutter, in the trade the ''tailor'' is the one who sews up what the ''cutter'' has shaped.^(Etymonline) The verb meant “to do tailor's work” (1662)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) and “to make by tailor's work” (1856),^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) and in American English from 1942 “to design or adapt to suit specific needs”.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – a maker of clothes.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1662 – verb, to work as a tailor.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1719 – Merriam-Webster's date for the verb.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1856 – verb, to make by tailoring.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1942 – verb, to adapt to a particular purpose.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who makes, repairs or alters [[garment|alt=garments]] such as suits, coats and dresses.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make (a garment), especially to individual measurements.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To make, alter or adapt for a particular purpose, as in ''tailor a program to the user''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To fit or provide (a person) with clothes.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # To work as a tailor.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tailorbird]]

+ * [[tailor-made]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[detail]]

+ * [[tally]]

+ * [[retail]]

+ * [[entail]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}