English
tally
Clipping of tallyho.
Formed from tall + -ly
Proto-Indo-European *del- ‘to count, reckon’
Proto-Germanic *talaz ‘submissive’
Old English *tæl ‘swift, ready’
Middle English tall ‘seemly, handsome; bold; big’
English tall
Another origin of tally
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂l-‘to grow’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtalea‘a cutting, rod, stick’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500tallia
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400tallie
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500talie
- Englishtodaytally
Another origin of tally
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500talien
- Englishtodaytally
Today it means
intj Target sighted.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “tally”. 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 / tally