Tayle

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An old spelling of the word for the flexible rear extension of an animal's body ; a historical legal term for property limited to a designated line of heirs
2. An earlier form of the word for the appendage at the back of an animal ; an old legal expression for an estate passed only to named descendants
3. A former spelling of the word meaning the hindmost part of a creature ; a legal arrangement that confines inheritance of land to particular heirs

Etymology: The "ay" in "tayle" is a spelling habit, not a separate word. It is an older way of writing "tail," the same pattern found in "sayle" for "sail" and "gayle" for "gale." Early printers and scribes spelled the vowel in many different ways before English spelling settled down. The root is Old English "tægel," which goes back to a Germanic form meaning the animal's appendage. Its sound was closer to the modern "tay-el" than "tale" in some dialects, so the spelling wobbled. Readers should not confuse it with "tale," a story, which comes from a separate Old English word "talu," meaning a count or account. The two were distinct words from the start, but their spellings drifted together in Middle English, and "tale" was sometimes written for the animal part as well.

Synonyms: tail