Etymograph

English

tail

Tail comes from Proto-Germanic *taglą ‘hair, fiber’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- ‘to tear, fray, shred’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deḱ-1‘to tear, fray, shred’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*doḱ-1‘hair of the tail’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taglą1‘hair, fiber’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tagl1reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150tæġel1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tail1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1499tail1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tail
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1499, John Skelton: “By Goddis sydes, syns I her thyder broughte, /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deḱ-Wiktionary, English tail‘to tear, fray, shred’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*doḱ-Wiktionary, English tail‘hair of the tail’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tagląWiktionary, English tail‘hair, fiber’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*taglWiktionary, English tailreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150tæġelWiktionary, English tail
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tailWiktionary, English tail
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1499tailWiktionary, English tail. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1499, John Skelton: “By Goddis sydes, syns I her thyder broughte, /…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- ‘to tear, fray, shred’

doctor, document, decent, dignity, doctrine, decoration, decor, paradox, dogma, indignation, disdain, fonda, doctrinal, dodo, indignant, dainty, docile, dox, docent, deign, digne, dignitary, 54 more

Today it means

noun The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to their posterior and near the anus or cloaca.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tail”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- / tail

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