taille

[ teyl; French tah-yuh ]

/ teɪl; French ˈtɑ yə /

noun, plural tailles [teylz; French tah-yuh] /teɪlz; French ˈtɑ yə/.

French History. a tax that was levied by a king or seigneur on his subjects or on lands held under him and that became solely a royal tax in the 15th century from which the lords and later the clergy were exempt.

(in dressmaking) the waist or bodice of a garment.

Obsolete. the shape of one's body from shoulders to waist; figure; build.

Nearby words

tailfirst, tailgate, tailgater, tailing, tailings, taille, tailleferre, tailles, tailleur, taillight, tailor

Origin of taille

1545–55; < French: literally, a cutting; see tail²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for taille

In the greater part of those provinces of France, which are called the countries of elections, the taille is of this kind.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations|Adam Smith
I will have a garment reach to my taille; Then am I a minion, for I wear the new guise.
The Romany Rye|George Borrow
Or parts are written for a viola and a taille (the tenor viol).
Bach|Charles Francis Abdy Williams
La portraiture de feu monseigneur de Savoie, taille en bois, bien-fte.
The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria|Eleanor E. Tremayne

The taille, as it still subsists in France may serve as an example of those ancient tallages.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations|Adam Smith

British Dictionary definitions for taille

taille

/ (taɪ, French tɑj) /

noun plural tailles (taɪ, taɪz, French tɑj)

(in France before 1789) a tax levied by a king or overlord on his subjects

Word Origin for taille

C17: from French, from Old French taillier to shape; see tailor

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012