tally stick

noun

A bone, or piece of wood, on which notches or scores are cut, as the marks of number, for account keeping.

Similar
nicksticktally
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Meanings

nountally stick (plural tally sticks)

plural tally sticks

  1. historicalA bone, or piece of wood, on which notches or scores are cut, as the marks of number, for account keeping.

    Synonyms: nickstick, tally

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA bone, or piece of wood, on which notches or scores are cut, as the marks of number, for account keeping.

Similar
nicksticktally

Origin

From tally + stick.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian рабош
  • рабош (raboš)piece of wood with notches or scores
Catalan pal de recompte, pal de comptar
  • pal de recomptepiece of wood with notches or scores
  • pal de comptarpiece of wood with notches or scores
  • bastó de recomptepiece of wood with notches or scores
Chinese Mandarin 帳目棍 /帐目棍
  • 帳目棍 /帐目棍piece of wood with notches or scores
Czech vrubovka
  • vrubovkapiece of wood with notches or scores
Dutch kerfstok
  • kerfstokpiece of wood with notches or scores
Finnish pulkka, pirkka
  • pulkkapiece of wood with notches or scores
  • pirkkapiece of wood with notches or scores
  • pykäläpuupiece of wood with notches or scores
French bâton de comptage, bâton de taille
  • bâton de comptagepiece of wood with notches or scores
  • bâton de taillepiece of wood with notches or scores
German Kerbholz, Kerbstock
  • Kerbholzpiece of wood with notches or scores
  • Kerbstockpiece of wood with notches or scores
  • Zählholzpiece of wood with notches or scores
  • Zählstabpiece of wood with notches or scores
Greek τσέτουλα
  • τσέτουλα (tsétoula)piece of wood with notches or scores
Italian bastone da conteggio
  • bastone da conteggiopiece of wood with notches or scores
Norwegian karvestokk
  • karvestokkpiece of wood with notches or scores
Persian چوبخط
  • چوبخط (čub-xat)piece of wood with notches or scores
Polish rabosz
  • raboszpiece of wood with notches or scores
Romanian răboj
  • răbojpiece of wood with notches or scores
Russian би́рка
  • би́рка (bírka)piece of wood with notches or scores
Slovak rováš
  • rovášpiece of wood with notches or scores
Spanish palo tallado, palo de cómputo
  • palo talladopiece of wood with notches or scores
  • palo de cómputopiece of wood with notches or scores
Cite this entry
APA

tally stick. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tally%20stick

MLA

“tally stick.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tally%20stick. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tally stick,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tally%20stick.

Source: tally stick on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.