Where does “teller” come from?
teller (Middle Low German) comes from Middle French tailloir, from Old French tailleor, from Old French taillier, from Latin taliō, from Latin tālis, from Proto-Indo-European tód, from Proto-Indo-European to-, from Proto-Indo-European só — this; that.
Ancestry of “teller”, step by step
teller traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle French tailloir
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | tailloir | a plate or board upon which food is cut before it... |
| 2 | Old French | tailleor | — |
| 3 | Old French | taillier | to cut; to shape |
| 4 | Latin | taliō | punishment equal to the injury sustained; retaliation |
| 5 | Latin | tālis | such |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | tód | demonstrative pronoun; that; it |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | to- | it; that; the, that |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | só | this; that |