Meaning
The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to their posterior and near the anus or cloaca.
Etymology
Origin: Old English
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *taglą Proto-West Germanic *tagl Old English tæġl Middle English tayl English tail From Middle English tail, taile, taille, tayil, tayl, tayle, tayll, teil, tæȝel, from Old English tæġel, 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”). Cognates Cognate with German Zagel (“tail”), Danish, Faroese, and Icelandic tagl (“tail”), Swedish tagel (“horsehair”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐌻 (tagl, “hair”); also Serbo-Croatian дла̏ка, dlȁka (“single hair”), Slovene dlaka (“single hair”), Northern Kurdish dezî (“cotton, thread”), Sanskrit दशा (daśā, “border, fringe, hem”). In some senses, apparently by a generalization of the usual opposition between head and tail.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
Antonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 40 recorded puzzles:
- 2026-10-02TAILMNP
- 2026-09-12IALMPRT
- 2026-09-08IACEFLT
- 2026-09-01ADILNTW
- 2026-07-11TAILNPU
- 2026-06-13IAEKLTV
- 2026-05-06AVIURLT
- 2026-04-20LATIDNY
- 2026-04-05ACTIFLY
- 2026-02-09TACIKLO
- 2026-01-20AFTLINY
- 2026-01-12IATECLZ
+28 earlier appearances in the archive.