tally

tally · interjection¹

Clipping of tallyho.

tally · noun²

1. Latin · derived fromtalea“a cutting, rod, stick”
2. Medieval Latin · derived fromtallia
3. Old French · derived fromtaille“notch in a piece of wood signifying a debt”
4. Anglo-Norman · derived fromtallie
5. Middle English · inherited fromtalie
6. English todaytally

From Middle English talie, from Anglo-Norman tallie and Old French taille (“notch in a piece of wood signifying a debt”), from Medieval Latin tallia, from Latin talea (“a cutting, rod, stick”). Doublet of taille and talea. The same root word also appears in Swedish talja, Danish talje (“tally”), which are related to Old East Norse tælgia (“to carve”), which may be related to the English term (compare score, to Old Norse skor (“notch”)). Also compare Proto-Germanic *talą (“number”).

tally · verb³

1. Medieval Latin · derived fromtaliare
2. Middle English · inherited fromtalien
3. English todaytally

From Middle English talien, from the noun (see above). Also from Medieval Latin taliare.

tally · adverb⁴

1. Middle English · inherited fromtally
2. English todaytally

From Middle English tally, talliche, equivalent to tall + -ly.

Words from the same roots