taille

Taille, n. Etym: [F. See Tally, Tailor.] 1. A tally; an account scored on a piece of wood. [Obs.] Whether that he paid or took by taille. Chaucer. 2. (O. F. Law) Defn: Any imposition levied by the king, or any other lord, upon his subjects. The taille, as it still subsists in France, may serve as an example of those ancient tallages. It was a tax upon the profits of the farmer, which they estimate by the stock that he has upon the farm. A. Smith. 3. (Mus.) Defn: The French name for the tenor voice or part; also, for the tenor viol or viola.

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