Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “tailor” come from?

Tailor comes from French tailleur, from French tailler meaning to cut, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European só.

tailor (English): A person who makes, repairs, or alters clothes...

Definitions

  1. A person who makes, repairs, or alters clothes...

Ancestry of “tailor”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishtaillour—
2Anglo-Normantaillourtailor
3Old Frenchtaillierto cut; to shape
4Latintaliō—
5Latintālis—
6Proto-Indo-Europeantóddemonstrative pronoun; that; it
7Proto-Indo-Europeanto-it; that; the, that
8Proto-Indo-Europeansóthis; that

Words derived from “tailor”

  • tailoress
  • tailorable
  • tailorability
  • tailorbird
  • retailor
  • tailorless
  • tajloro
  • tela
Every word from Proto-Indo-European só →