tailor

C1 Topic:Work & Careers

US /ˈteɪlɚ/ UK /ˈteɪlə/ See IPA manual

Freq #9019

Meanings

1

noun
A person whose job is to make, repair, or alter clothes, especially suits.

He took the jacket to a tailor to have it made smaller.
2

verb
To make or adapt something to suit a particular need or person.

The course is tailored to the needs of beginners.
3

verb
To make, repair, or alter clothes.

We can tailor that suit for you by Friday.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person whose job is to... needleworker

2 verb · to make or adapt something... fit shape adapt

3 verb · to make, repair, or alter... fit

Word family

Forms tailoredtailoringtailors

Derived forms tailor-fashiontailor-madetailor-maketailor-styletailorbirdtailoress

Related forms detail tallytaylor

Appears in

Tongue twisters (1)

See all

Three Tinkering Tailors
Three tinkering tailors totally tired.

Begin three with /θ/, then switch to /t/ at the start of tinkering, tailors, totally and tired. Keep the /t/ starts light and clear.

Simplified etymology

Tailor ultimately goes back to Latin taliare, “to cut,” referring directly to the cutting involved in a tailor’s work.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English taillour, from Anglo-Norman taillour, from Old French tailleor, from taillier, from Late Latin tāliō, from Latin tālea (“a cutting”). Doublet of tailleur. Compare typologically German Schneider (akin to English snithe); Macedonian кројач (krojač), Polish krawiec (akin to Proto-Slavic *krojiti).

taillour Middle English tailleor Old French tāliō la-lat tālea Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Work & Careers Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# tailor

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈteɪlɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈteɪlə/
**Frequency rank:** 9019

## Meanings
1. A person whose job is to make, repair, or alter clothes, especially suits.
2. To make or adapt something to suit a particular need or person.
3. To make, repair, or alter clothes.

## Examples
- He took the jacket to a tailor to have it made smaller.
- The course is tailored to the needs of beginners.
- We can tailor that suit for you by Friday.

## Derived Forms
- tailor-fashion
- tailor-made
- tailor-make
- tailor-style
- tailorbird
- tailoress

## Related Forms
- detail
- tally
- taylor

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: taillour
- Root: tailleor
- Root: tāliō
- Root: tālea

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English taillour, from Anglo-Norman taillour, from Old French tailleor, from taillier, from Late Latin tāliō, from Latin tālea (“a cutting”). Doublet of tailleur. Compare typologically German Schneider (akin to English snithe); Macedonian кројач (krojač), Polish krawiec (akin to Proto-Slavic *krojiti).

## AI Etymology
Tailor is inherited from Middle English taillour, from Anglo-Norman taillour, from Old French tailleor, from taillier, from Late Latin tāliō, from Latin tālea (“a cutting”). Doublet of tailleur. Compare typologically German Schneider (akin to English snithe); Macedonian кројач (krojač), Polish krawiec (akin to Proto-Slavic *krojiti). In present-day use, it can mean a person whose job is to make, repair, or alter clothes, especially suits, or to make or adapt something to suit a particular need or person. Derived formations include tailor-fashion, tailor-made, tailor-make, tailor-style, and tailorbird.

## Topics
- Work & Careers
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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