"T" Word Origins

tag

Middle English

From Middle English tagge, "a small hanging piece attached to a garment," likely of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish tagg, "thorn" or "prickle."

tagball

Origin

Blend of tag + paintball.

Taggart

Origin

From Scottish Gaelic Mac an t-Sagairt (literally “son of the priest”).

tagger

Origin

From tag + -er.

tagline

Origin

From tag + line.

taglock

Origin

From tag + lock.

Tagore

Origin

From the Bengali title ঠাকুর (ṭhakur), meaning "lord" or "master."

Taguchi

Japanese

Borrowed directly from the Japanese surname 田口 (Taguchi), literally "rice-field mouth/entrance."

Tahoe

Origin

Borrowed from the Washo language word daʔaw, meaning "lake."

tai

Japanese

From Japanese 鯛 (たい, tai), the name of the sea bream fish.

taiga

Russian

From Russian тайга́ (tajgá), itself borrowed from a South Siberian Turkic or Yakut word for dense, hard-to-cross forest.

taikonaut

Origin

From Mandarin 太空 (tàikōng, “space”) + -naut, modelled after astronaut, cosmonaut, spationaut, etc. The term was coined on 19 May 1998 by Chiew Lee Yih (趙里昱 (Zhào Lǐyù)) from Malaysia, who used it first in newsgroups. Almost simultaneously, Chen Lan coined it for use in the Western media.

tail

Old English

From Old English tægl ("tail"), going back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "hair" or "hair of the tail."

tailed

Middle English

From Middle English tayled, formed from tail plus the suffix -ed.

tailgate

Origin

From tail plus gate, originally referring to the hinged panel at the rear of a truck or wagon.

taillight

Origin

A straightforward compound of tail and light.

tailor

Latin

From Anglo-Norman taillour, ultimately from Latin tālea ("a cutting"), reflecting the trade's origin in cutting cloth.

tailpiece

Origin

From tail + piece.

tailpipe

Origin

A compound of tail and pipe.

tailspin

Origin

From tail plus spin, describing an aircraft spiraling downward tail-first.

taint

Latin

From Old French teint ("dyed, tinged"), from Latin tingere — the same root that gives us "tint."

tainture

Origin

Perhaps taint + -ure; perhaps from Middle French tainture (“dye; dyeing; tincture”). Doublet of teinture, tinctura, and tincture.

taipan

Cantonese

From Cantonese 大班 (daai⁶ baan¹, "big shot, head of a firm"), related to the word tycoon.

taipeh

Origin

Postal Romanization of 臺北／台北 (Táiběi).

Taipei

Origin

From the Wade-Giles romanization of Mandarin 臺北 (Tái-běi), literally "Taiwan north."

tait

Origin

A borrowing into English of the Australian aboriginal name for the animal.

Taiwan

Origin

Derived through Wade-Giles romanization of Mandarin 臺灣 (Táiwān), tracing back to a Hokkien placename for a sandbank near modern Tainan.

Taiwanese

Origin

From Taiwan plus the suffix -ese.

taj

Arabic

From Arabic تَاج (tāj), borrowed from Classical Persian تاج (tāj, "crown").

Tajima

Japanese

Borrowed from the Japanese surname 田島 (Tajima).

tak

Origin

A dialectal form of the verb take.

Takada

Japanese

Borrowed from the Japanese surname 高田 (Takada).

Takagi

Japanese

Borrowed from the Japanese surname 高木 (Takagi), literally "tall tree."

Takahashi

Japanese

Borrowed from the Japanese surname 高橋 (Takahashi), literally "tall bridge."

Takako

Japanese

Borrowed from the Japanese given name たかこ (Takako).

Takano

Japanese

Borrowed from the Japanese surname 高野 (Takano), literally "tall field."

Takao

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 高雄 (Takao), itself adapted from a Min Nan placename, 打狗 (Tá-káu).

Takayama

Japanese

Borrowed from the Japanese surname/placename 高山 (Takayama), literally "tall mountain."

take

Old English

From Old English tacan, borrowed from Old Norse taka ("to touch, take"), from a Germanic root meaning "to touch."

takeaway

Origin

A deverbal noun formed from the phrasal verb "take away."

Takeda

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 武田 (たけだ, Takeda, literally “military field”) or 竹田 (たけだ, Takeda, literally “bamboo field”).

takedown

Origin

A deverbal noun formed from the phrasal verb "take down."

taken

Old English

From Old English tacen, the past participle of the verb take, formed with the -n ending typical of strong verbs.

Takeo

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese たけお (Takeo).

takeoff

Origin

Formed from the phrasal verb take off, in the sense of "lifting into the air."

takeout

Origin

From the phrasal verb take out, describing food taken out of the restaurant.

takeover

Origin

Formed from the phrasal verb take over.

taker

Origin

From take plus the agent suffix -er, meaning "one who takes."