toll

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A fee you pay to use a road, bridge, or tunnel.

   I forgot to keep change in my car for the toll.

2. 2
   noun

   The amount of harm, damage, or loss caused by something.

   The war has taken a terrible toll on the people.

3. 3
   verb

   To ring a bell slowly and repeatedly, often for a death.

   The church bell tolled as the funeral began.

From Middle English toll, tol, tolle, from Old English toll m or n and toln f (“toll, duty, custom”), from Proto-West Germanic *toll, *tolnu, from Proto-Germanic *tullaz, *tullō (“that which is counted or told, reckoning”), from Proto-Indo-European *del- (“calculation, fraud”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tol (“toll”), Dutch tol (“toll”), German Zoll (“toll, duty, customs”), Danish told (“toll, duty, tariff”), Swedish tull (“toll, customs”), Icelandic tollur (“toll, customs”). More at tell, tale. Alternate etymology derives Old English toll from Medieval Latin tolōneum, tolōnium, alteration…

Topics