tassel
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English tassel, from Old French tassel, from Latin taxillus (“small cube”), from tālus (“ankle”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
edittassel (plural tassels)
- A ball-shaped bunch of plaited or otherwise entangled threads from which at one end protrudes a cord on which the ball is hung, and which may have loose, dangling threads at the other end (often used as decoration along the bottom of garments, curtains or other hangings).
- (botany) The panicle on a male plant of maize, which consists of loose threads with anthers on them.
- The loose hairs at the end of a braid.
- A narrow silk ribbon, or similar, sewn to a book to be put between the pages.
- (architecture) A piece of board that is laid upon a wall as a sort of plate, to give a level surface to the ends of floor timbers.
- A kind of bur used in dressing cloth; a teasel.
- A thin plate of gold on the back of a bishop's gloves.
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editball-shaped bunch of plaited or otherwise entangled threads
|
male inflorescence of maize
Further reading
editVerb
edittassel (third-person singular simple present tassels, present participle tasselling or tasseling, simple past and past participle tasselled or tasseled)
- (transitive) To adorn with tassels.
- Synonym: betassel
- 1819, John Keats, Otho the Great, act V, scene V, verses 37-39:
- […] gauzes of silver mist;
Loop’d up with cords of twisted wreathed light,
And tassell’d round with weeping meteors!
- (intransitive, botany) To put forth a tassel or flower.
- Maize is a crop that tassels.
Anagrams
editOld French
editEtymology
editFrom Late Latin taxellus, secondary form of taxillus, diminutive of Latin talus.
Noun
edittassel oblique singular, m (oblique plural tasseaus or tasseax or tassiaus or tassiax or tassels, nominative singular tasseaus or tasseax or tassiaus or tassiax or tassels, nominative plural tassel)
- tassel (adornment for a garment)
Swedish
editEtymology
editNoun
edittassel n (uncountable)
- whispering
- Synonym: tissel
Usage notes
editNormally in the form tissel och tassel.
Declension
editDeclension of tassel
nominative | genitive | ||
---|---|---|---|
singular | indefinite | tassel | tassels |
definite | tasslet | tasslets | |
plural | indefinite | — | — |
definite | — | — |
Further reading
editCategories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/æsəl
- Rhymes:English/æsəl/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Botany
- en:Architecture
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Hair
- en:Honeysuckle family plants
- en:Plant anatomy
- Old French terms derived from Late Latin
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French masculine nouns
- Old French terms with quotations
- Swedish deverbals
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish neuter nouns
- Swedish uncountable nouns