tally
oxford
views updated May 29 2018tal·ly / ˈtalē/ •
n. (pl. -lies) 1. a current score or amount: that takes his tally to 10 goals in 10 games. ∎ a record of a score or amount: I kept a running tally of David's debt on a note above my desk. ∎ a particular number taken as a group or unit to facilitate counting. ∎ a mark registering such a number. ∎ (also tal·ly stick) hist. a piece of wood scored across with notches for the items of an account and then split into halves, each party keeping one. ∎ an account kept in such a way. ∎ archaic a counterpart or duplicate of something.2. a label attached to a plant or tree, or stuck in the ground beside it, that gives information about it, such as its name and class.•
v. (-lies, -lied) 1. [intr.] agree or correspond: their signatures should tally with their names on the register.2. [tr.] calculate the total number of: the votes were being tallied with abacuses.DERIVATIVES: tal·li·er n.
The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
tally
oxford
views updated May 18 2018tally a current score or amount; the original meaning (in late Middle English) was a stick or rod of wood scored across with notches for the items of an account; it was customary for the debtor and creditor to split the piece of wood in half lengthways through the notches, each party keeping one piece. The word comes via Anglo-
Norman French from Latin
talea ‘twig, cutting’.
The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES
tally
oxford
views updated May 11 2018tally rod of wood marked with notches recording payments XV; reckoning, score XVI; counterpart XVII. — AN.
tallie = AL.
tal(l)ia, for L.
tālea cutting, rod, stick.
So
tally vb. †score, mark down XV; agree, accord XVIII.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
Tally
gale
views updated May 17 2018Tally
a number, group, or series, 1674; a unit of measure, sometimes, five dozen objects.
Examples : tally of cabbage, 1891; of cauliflowers, 1883; of hops, 1868; of marrows, 1891; of squirary (young squires), 1327; of turnips (five dozen bunches), 1851.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms