"T" Word Origins

tape

Old English

From Old English tæppa/tæppe, meaning "ribbon" or "strip of material"; the exact origin before that is unclear.

taper

Latin

From Old English tapor, an early word for a candle or wick, whose exact origin remains uncertain, though some link it to Latin papyrus.

tapered

Latin

From taper, originally a slender wax candle, from Old English tapor, probably from Latin papyrus, whose pith was used for wicks; the narrow candle shape gave the word its meaning of gradual narrowing.

tapestry

Old French

From Old French tapisserie, ultimately from Greek tapes, referring to a heavy carpet or cloth.

tapetum

Origin

From Latin tapētum. Further from Ancient Greek τάπης (tápēs). Doublet of tapet.

tapeworm

Origin

Compound of tape and worm, describing the flat, ribbon-like shape of the parasite.

tapioca

Portuguese

Borrowed from Portuguese tapioca, from an Old Tupi word describing the starch extraction process from cassava.

tapis

Origin

From French, from Old French tapiz, from Vulgar Latin *tapēs, from Ancient Greek τάπης (tápēs), from an Iranian source.

tapori

Origin

Borrowed from Hindi टपोरी (ṭaporī), from Marathi टपोरी (ṭaporī).

tapper

Origin

From tap + -er.

taproom

Origin

From tap + room.

taps

Origin

From tap plus the plural -s, originally referring to a drum signal for putting out lights in soldiers' quarters at night.

taqaza

Arabic

From Arabic taqāḍī, 'mutual claiming, demanding settlement', from the root q-ḍ-y relating to settling and discharging obligations; it entered Urdu and Hindi through Persian.

tar

Old English

From Old English teoru, tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "tree" — tar was traditionally made by distilling pine and other tree resin.

Tara

Old Irish

Borrowed from Irish Teamhrach, genitive of Teamhair, from Old Irish Temair (literally “high place”). The female given name is derived from the name of the plantation in Gone with the Wind, named for the place in Ireland.

Taran

Russian

Sense 1: from Russian тара́нь (taránʹ). Sense 2: from Russian таран (taran).

tarantella

Origin

Borrowed from Italian tarantella, a diminutive of Taranto, a town in southern Italy (but popularly associated with tarantola (“tarantula”), on the belief that the dance was variously a result of, or cure for, its bite).

Tarantino

Italian

Derived from Taranto, the Italian city.

tarantism

Origin

From New Latin tarantismus + English -ism (suffix forming nouns of action, process, or result), from Old Italian Taranto (“seaport in southern Italy”) + Latin -ismus (“-ism”); see further at tarantula. The English word is cognate with French tarentisme, Italian tarantismo.

tarantula

Italian

From Old Italian tarantola, named after Taranto in southern Italy, where a species of wolf spider was once believed — wrongly — to cause a frenzied urge to dance when it bit someone.

tarboosh

Origin

Borrowed from Arabic طَرْبُوش (ṭarbūš).

tard

Origin

Apheretic form of retard.

tardigrade

Origin

From translingual Tardigrada.

tardiness

Origin

Formed from the adjective tardy plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

TARDIS

Origin · 1963

Invented in 1963 for the BBC show Doctor Who, as an acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space."

tardy

Latin

From French tardif, going back to Latin tardus, meaning slow or sluggish.

tarek

Origin

From Armenian տառեխ (taṙex). Doublet of bottarga.

target

Old French

From Old French targe, meaning a small shield, going back to a Frankish word for the same; the shooting sense grew out of that older "shield" meaning.

tariff

Italian

From Italian tariffa, meaning a list of customs duties, ultimately from an Arabic word meaning notification or explanation.

Tariq

Arabic

From Arabic ṭāriq, meaning a night visitor or a morning star, related to a verb meaning to knock.

tarmac

Origin

Shortened from "tarmacadam" (tar + macadam, a road surface made of crushed stone); originally a trademark named after its inventor, Edgar Hooley.

tarmacadam

Origin

From tar + macadam.

tarn

Old Norse

From Old Norse tjǫrn, meaning a small lake with no streams feeding into it.

tarnation

Origin

A blend of "darnation" and "tarnal" (itself from "eternal"), used as a softened alternative to "damnation."

tarnish

Old French

From Old French ternir, meaning to make dim or dull, ultimately traced to a Germanic root meaning to conceal.

taro

Origin

Borrowed from Māori taro.

tarot

French

Borrowed from French tarot, from Italian tarocco.

tarp

Origin

A shortened form of "tarpaulin."

tarpaulin

Origin

From tar + pall (“heavy canvas”) + -ing. The sailor sense reflects that sailors of centuries past often wore garments made of tarred cloth (for weatherproofing).

tarradiddle

Origin

Perhaps derived from diddle (“to cheat”).

tarragon

Medieval Latin

Traced back through French and Medieval Latin to an Arabic word, ultimately from a Greek word for "dragonwort" — related to "dragon."

tarry

Old English

From Middle English tarien, from an Old English word meaning to vex or provoke; the sense shifted over time to "linger."

tarse

Origin

Borrowed from French tarse, from Latin tarsus.

tarsometatarsus

Origin

From tarso- + metatarsus.

tarsus

New Latin

Borrowed directly from New Latin tarsus.

tart

Old English

From Old English teart, meaning sharp or severe, going back to a Germanic root related to "tear."

tartan

Medieval Latin

From Scots tartan, likely from an Old French word for a cloth mixed from wool and cotton or linen; some scholars instead trace it to a Medieval Latin word for fabric imported from "Tartary" (Central Asia).

tartar

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin tartarum, itself from a Byzantine Greek word, possibly ultimately connected to an Arabic or Persian word for sediment or dregs.