tassel
/ˈtæsəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.69 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A ball-shaped bunch of plaited or otherwise entangled threads from which at one end protrudes a cord on which the ball is hung, and which may have loose, dangling threads at the other end (often used as decoration along the bottom of garments, curtains or other hangings).
noun
A piece of board that is laid upon a wall as a sort of plate, to give a level surface to the ends of floor timbers.
noun
A thin plate of gold on the back of a bishop's gloves.
Example Sentences
- "The Giant's boots were of pink leather and had tassels on them and his hat was decorated with an enormous pink ostrich feather, carefully curled."
- "The plant world is very busy and helpful when it seems to be playing. The tall, plumy tassels at the tops of corn stalks, swing much as you do under the maple tree. But those tassels are so loaded with pollen that you can often see a brown dust hovering over a corn field. As the wind blows the tassels, the pollen is shaken down in clouds."
- "[…] gauzes of silver mist; Loop’d up with cords of twisted wreathed light, And tassell’d round with weeping meteors!"
- "Maize is a crop that tassels."
Etymology
From Middle English tassel, from Old French tassel, from Latin tāxillus (“small cube”), from tālus (“ankle”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: tassel, tāxillus
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.