Translation
waist
Word origin
From French taille, the waist, from tailler, to cut, and behind that Late Latin taliare, to split, from talea, a cutting or twig. The waist is where a garment is cut in.
- Origin
- French
- Root
- taille
- English cognates
- tailor, detail, retail, entail
Examples
.
The dress is too wide at the waist.
.
He put his hand on her waist.
.
He wears the belt below the waist.
Two near-misses, one root. Nothing here comes apart. is - plus the noun -o, and the resemblances that catch the eye are accidents. It is not Italio (Italy) with the first letter knocked off, and although the muse of comedy is written too, that is a proper name that happens to land on the same letters. The waist word came in from French, and it means what a tailor means by it: the place where the cloth is taken in.
What it covers. is the narrow part of the body between the ribs and the hips, and by extension the corresponding part of a garment. It is not ventro, the belly, and not zono, the belt that goes round it. a is a slim waist, is around the waist, and a coat cut is a fitted one.
A tailor's family. The French tailler behind it turns up all over English by other routes: a tailor cuts, a detail is a piece cut off the whole, and retail is selling in cut portions. Esperanto keeps tajlori for the tailoring itself, so the two ideas stay in separate words even though the history is one.
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talio: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "talio" (waist): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 46.