tail

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The long, thin part that sticks out at the back of an animal's body.

   The dog wagged its tail happily.

2. 2
   noun

   The back or end part of something, often shaped like a tail.

   The tail of the plane was damaged in the storm.

3. 3
   noun

   The least common or extreme part of a range of values.

   The survey showed a long tail of rare answers.

From Middle English tail, tayl, teil, from Old English tæġl (“tail”), from Proto-West Germanic *tagl, from Proto-Germanic *taglą (“hair, fiber; hair of a tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *doḱ- (“hair of the tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to tear, fray, shred”). Cognate with Scots tail (“tail”), Saterland Frisian Tail (“tail, end”), West Frisian teil (“tail”), Dutch teil (“tail, haulm, blade”), Low German Tagel (“twisted scourge, whip of thongs and ropes; end of a rope”), German Zagel (“tail”), dialectal Danish tavl (“hair of the tail”), Swedish tagel (“hair of the tail, horsehair”),…

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