Tail

How to spell tail

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce tail

What does tail mean?

1. nounThe hindmost part of an animal's body, or the rear section of an object.
2. verbTo follow someone closely and secretly.

Tail in a sentence

• noun

  The dog wagged its tail when the lead came out.

• verb

  The detective decided to tail the suspect across the city.

• noun

  The mechanic inspected the tail of the aircraft for damage.

• verb

  Two unmarked cars began to tail the courier van.

Where does tail come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English tægel or tægl, which referred to the hairy hind part of an animal and is related to older Germanic forms meaning a hair, a hindmost rope, or a frayed end. Those Germanic relatives carried the sense of something trailing or hanging behind, which is exactly how the meaning broadened in English to cover the rear of anything, from a coat to an aeroplane. By the medieval period it had also become a verb for following close behind someone, the way an animal's tail follows its body. The spelling kept the -ai- vowel that distinguishes it on the page from its homophone 'tale', a story, even though the two sound identical. That shared sound is the whole trap: 'tail' is the physical rear end or the act of following, while 'tale' is a narrative.

How the word is built

• tail (from Old English tægl: hindmost part, hair of the tail)

Words that sound like tail

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• tale: A story, whether true or invented, that is told or written.