▪ I. tally, n.1
(ˈtælɪ)
Forms: 5–6 taly(e, 6 tallye, tallee, tale, 6–7 talie, tallie, talle, 7–9 talley, 6– tally.
[In 15th c. talye = AF. (14th c.) tallie = Anglo-L. tālea, tālia, tallia, in same sense, L. tālea, cutting, rod, stick. The doublet taille, taile, tail n.2, from French taille, was in earlier use, and did not become obsolete till 17th c.]
1. a. A stick or rod of wood, usually squared, marked on one side with transverse notches representing the amount of a debt or payment. The rod being cleft lengthwise across the notches, the debtor and creditor each retained one of the halves, the agreement or tallying of which constituted legal proof of the debt, etc. Cf. tail n.2 4.
| [1189 Gervase of Canterbury Op. Hist. (Aug.) (Rolls) I. 453 Videlicet ut conventus Monachos tres vel quatuor ad custodiendas villas ordinaret, qui redditibus omnibus thesaurariis a conventu constitutis per taleas responderent. 1203 in Placit. Abbrev. (1811) 38/2 Eustacius..inde producit sectam et talliam ostendit quam fecerunt. 1321–2 Rolls of Parlt. I. 401/1 Illoques pristrent des biens..pur lour sustenaunce saunz paiement fere ou tallie al gardeyn du dit leu.] |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 486/1 Taly, or talye,..talia, tallia. 1545 Brinklow Compl. vi. (1874) 19 Ye shal not haue hir redy mony neyther, but a taly. 1552 Huloet, Talye or tale vsed in receypte, tessera,..tesserula,..dimin. a lyttle or shorte tallye. 1557 Order of Hospitalls H ij, The Tallyes of the same Baker and Bruer shalbe in the custodie and keping of the Thresorer. a 1628 Preston New Covt. (1634) 323 There is a law in the mind within, answerable to the law of God without;..it answers as Tallie answers to Tallie. 1756 Gentl. Mag. XXVI. 606/1 Harry, who ought to have minded the Tallies of the milk-score. 1790 Paley Horæ Paul. xiv, It is like comparing the two parts of a cloven tally. 1881 Whitehead Hops 62 In some cases the very old fashioned method prevails of cutting notches upon wooden tallies, one part kept by the picker, the counterpart by the measurer. |
b. Such a cloven rod, as the official receipt formerly given by the Exchequer for a tax, tallage, etc. paid, or in acknowledgement of a loan to the sovereign.
| [1166 Pipe Rolls 12 Hen. II (1888) 2 Et x. li. in 11 talliis. 1178 Dialogus de Scaccario v, Quid ad factorem talearum. 1284 Provis. Exch. (St. Rec. Comm. I. 69/1), Omnes illi qui habent tallias de scaccario de debitis suis vel antecessorum suorum.] a 1604 Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 208 Calmagh burnt all the rolles and tallyes of that countie. 1626 Chas. I in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 264 Acquittances to be given you, which shall be your warrant for striking tallies and for repayment hereafter. a 1692 H. Pollexfen Disc. Trade (1697) 70 When any Tax or Imposition is granted by Parliament, Tallies, Exchequer Notes or Bills, issued out upon the same, for the supplying of the Government with Ready Money till the Duties be paid. 1697 Lond. Gaz. No. 3328/4 Lost..a Talley of 300 l. on Wines and Tobacco, Dated the 11th of March, 1695, No. 2329. 1738 Hist. Crt. Excheq. v. 91 To pay in their Rents into the Exchequer, and take Tallies from thence. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. ii. ii. (1869) I. 319 In 1696, tallies had been at forty, and fifty, and sixty per cent. discount, and bank notes at twenty per cent. 1847 J. Francis Hist. Bank Eng. iv. 59 Tallies lay bundled up like Bath faggots in the hands of brokers, and stock-jobbers. 1848 Wharton Law Lex. s.v., The use of tallies in the Exchequer was abolished by 23 Geo. III c. 82, and the old tallies were ordered to be destroyed by 4 & 5 Wm. IV c. 15. 1896 Anson Law & Cust. Constit. ii. vii. ii. i. 329 note 2, In 1834..orders were given to destroy the tallies. They were used as fuel in the stoves which warmed the Houses of Parliament; they overheated the flues and burned down the Houses. |
† c. tally of pro (i.e. pro, for or in favour of some one), tally of sol (i.e. solutum, paid): see quot. 1843. Obs.
| 1691 W. Lowndes Acc. Revenue Eng. 88 (MS.) The Tally of Pro called also the Tally of Assignement Imports on the same Stick both a Receipt and payment. 1696 Lond. Gaz. No. 3157/4 Lost..a Tally of Pro, dated the 18th of May 1695, in the Name of John Richards, Esq; for 300 l. struck on the Commissioners of His Majesty's Hereditary and Temporary Revenues of Excise. Ibid. No. 3244/4 Lost a Talley of 100 l. upon the Temporal Excise, struck the 5th of Aug. 1696, pro Edvardo Nicholas. 1697 Ibid. No. 3308/4 Lost.., a Talley of Pro No. 90. struck Aug. 6, 1696, in the Name of Edward Nicholas Esq; for 100 l. in part of 35000 l. by him Lent the 2d of July, 1696, upon the Hered' and Temp' Excise. 1703 Ibid. No. 3933/4 The Tallies of Pro, levied upon the Surplus of the Duties on Malt. 1843 Fourth Rep. Dep. Kpr. App. ii. 166 The Tally of Sol..whereon the word sol was written, to show that the money..had been paid into the Exchequer. Ibid., The Tally of Pro..operated as a modern cheque on a banker, being given forth in payment from the Exchequer, as a charge upon some public accountant, for him to pay the sum expressed thereon, out of the revenues in his hands. 1896 Anson Law & Cust. Constit. ii. vii. ii. i. 329. |
d. transf. Any tangible means of recording a payment or amount.
| 1863 Fawcett Pol. Econ. ii. x. (1876) 258 Each customer, when he makes a purchase, receives certain tin tickets or tallies, which record the amount of his purchases. |
2. a. The record of an amount due; a score or shot, an account. Obs. Also, the record of a number.
| 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 170 In buieng of drinke, by the firkin or pot, The tallie ariseth, but hog amendes not. 1828 Life Planter Jamaica 55 Keep tally of their number. 1833 H. Martineau Brooke Farm vii, To measure the milk and keep the tally. 1951 ‘J. Wyndham’ Day of Triffids xi. 201 He had taken a tally of the livestock and the number of blind among it. 1976 H. Wilson Governance of Britain iii. 55 The prime minister usually keeps a tally of those for and against. |
† b. † Naut. petty tally, a petty account kept of a ship's provisions, orig. of a certain portion; hence transf. provisions. Obs.
| 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 39 How to keep his Petty Tally. 1627 ― Seaman's Gram. xv. 74 A Commander at Sea should doe well..to consider..how to..prouide his petty Tally. Ibid. 75 There is neither..Grocer, Poulterer,..nor Butchers shop, and therefore the vse of this petty Tally is necessary. a 1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts vi. (1704) 519/2 Beer, Cask, Bread, and Petty-Talley..12l. 1678 Phillips (ed. 4), Petty-Tally, in Navigation is a competent proportion of edible and potable commodities in a Ship, according to the number of the Ships company. 1823 in Crabb Technol. Dict. 1847 in Craig. |
† c. upon the tally: on credit, ‘on tick’; by running up a score. Obs.
| 1807 Sporting Mag. XXIX. 185 To buy goods upon the Tally. (This term Tally, Mr. Garrow said, was not much known to the public.) |
d. spec. in sporting use, a total score; also in Baseball, a single run.
| 1856 Spirit of Times 27 Dec. 276/3 One of these swiftly-delivered balls, when stopped by a skillful batsman, is sure to give the..striker time to go his rounds in safety, and score one tally as he reaches home. 1868 H. Chadwick Game of Baseball 46 Tally, this term applies to the total score of the single innings played, or of the even innings, or of the totals at the close of the match. 1875 Chicago Tribune 29 July 5/4 [They] were only two tallies behind at the beginning of the ninth inning. 1949 Marshfield (Wisconsin) News-Herald 19 July 9/1 Phil Satkowiak homered with none on in the fourth and his teammates added two more tallies. 1976 Liverpool Echo 23 Nov. 17/1 Ainsdale marksman Alex Blakeman took his tally to nine goals from his last four games with a brilliant hat-trick. 1977 Guernsey Weekly Press 21 July 8/5 They shocked their opponents by scoring four runs on four hits in the top of the first and..holding the red-and-blacks to only one tally in the bottom half. |
e. Austral. and N.Z. (See quot. 1965.)
| 1881 A. Bathgate Waitaruna xii. 173 There was a rivalry among them [sc. shearers] as to who would have the biggest tally. 1908 D. Ferguson Bush Life Austral. & N.Z. (ed. 4) v. 39 Not only did his tallies of 170, 180, and even 190 place him beyond the reach of the keenest competitor, but the quality of his work was far above that of shearers in ordinary. 1930 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs 1st Ser. vii. 170 The combined shearing tally was..115,000 sheep. 1965 J. S. Gunn Terminol. Shearing Industry ii. 31 Tally, a specialised alternative term for a number of sheep. Each shearer has his personal tally for..the day, progressively to date, and his final tally for the shed... At one time a notch was cut on a tally stick on the call of ‘tally’ or ‘hundred’, which indicated a hundred sheep counted. |
3. fig. (from 1 and 2). Reckoning, score, account. Now rare.
| 1614 Raleigh Hist. World ii. (1634) 214 Ordinary occurrences, that are to be numbred by a shorter Tally [than by the year]. 1628 Wither Brit. Rememb. iv. 1807 Left they upon thy Tally all that sin. 1648 C. Walker Hist. Independ. i. 96 He that hath a Tally of every mans faults but his own hanging at his Girdle. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II, xxxviii, He threatened To weare it worthy, and a Tally make Of slaughter, to outvye his shop⁓board's Chalke. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. (1870) I. i. 14 It is stamped on his brain, and lives there thenceforward, a tally for nature, and a test of art. 1950 J. Agee Morning Watch (1951) ii. 61 Hell of a saint I'd make, he said to himself; and added with cold and level weary self-disgust to the tally of the sins he must soon confess, I swore in Lady Chapel in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. |
4. a. Each of the two corresponding halves or parts of anything; a thing, or part, that exactly fits or agrees with another thing or corresponding part; a counterpart; fig. an agreement, correspondence.
| 1651 Cleveland Mixt Assembly 35 Whose Members being not tallies, they'l not own Their fellows at the Resurrection. a 1700 Dryden (J.), So suited in their minds and persons That they were fram'd the tallies for each other. 1816 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 297 If histories so unlike..can..be brought to the same tally, no line of distinction remains between fact and fancy. 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 266 The bit of which key is so cut or shaped as to form a complete tally with the interior machinery. 1906 Edin. Rev. Jan. 207 Here he will find again the tally between proportion and thought. |
b. to live (on) tally, to live in concubinage, to cohabit without marriage. slang.
| 1864 Hotten Slang Dict. 253 Tally, ‘to live tally,’ to live in a state of unmarried impropriety. 1867 B. Brierley Traddlepin Fold 174 Aw'd advise thi t'live tally..if theaw con mak' it reet wi' some owd damsel. 1877 5 Years' Penal Servitude iii. 246, I never took to a moll except on tally. Ibid. vi. 377 A man she was then living ‘tally’ with. 1890 N. & Q. 7th Ser. X. 297/2 To ‘live tally’ is quite a common expression amongst the working classes in Lancashire, as is also tally-woman. 1901 M. Peacock in Folk-Lore June 174 He had for years been ‘living tally’ with a woman—that is in cohabitation without marriage. |
5. a. A number, group, series, lot, tale; esp. a certain number or group (of things or persons) taken as the unit of computation. Also, ‘a company or division of voters at an election’ (Eng. Dial. Dict.): see quot. 1774.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 56 Every tally by which we tell things must be either even or odd. 1683 Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly 102 When they tone out their daily Tally of Psalms. 1725 Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Wall, Some Bricks..are broken, in every Load or 500 Bricks; and the Tally or Tale, is, for the most part,..too little. 1774 Burke Sp. Concl. Poll Wks. III. 16 Mr. Brickdale opened his poll, it seems, with a tally of those very kind of freemen, and voted many hundreds of them. 1843 Lever J. Hinton xvii. (1878) 123 We told them off by tallies as they marched on board. 1886 Pall Mall. G. 4 June 14/1 Some few years ago..Victoria was well ahead of New South Wales in the tally of her people. 1889 19th Cent. Nov. 755 Though we had three deaths during the passage, as we also had three births, our tally remained correct. 1890 Science 12 Dec. 323 All the Indians..were drawn up in tallies, and arranged according to families. 1892 Labour Commission Gloss., Tally, a check account made by a person receiving goods;..used for the number of bricks or tons of other goods carried on canal boats and river barges. |
b. spec. In market-gardening, Five dozen (cabbages, bunches of turnips, etc.).
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 92, I buy turnips by the ‘tally’. A tally's five dozen bunches. 1883 Daily News 6 Sept. 2/7 Cauliflowers, 5s. per tally. 1891 Times 28 Sept. 4/2 Cabbages, 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per tally;..marrows, 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. per tally. |
c. spec. In hop-picking, A specified number of bushels that have to be picked for one shilling: see quot. 1904, and cf. quot. 1881 in 1.
| 1868 A Hop-sketch in Derby Mercury 12 Feb., Back at the ‘tally’ to play your part. 1891 Scott. Leader 24 Sept. 7 A strike has occurred among the hop-pickers..owing to alleged ‘excessive measure and high tally’. 1904 Daily Chron. 29 Aug. 8/3 The pay is..at the rate of 1s. for a certain number of bushels, called the ‘tally’, which varies from five to eight or nine, according to the growth of the hops. |
d. The last of a specified number forming a unit of computation, on the completion of which the tally-man calls ‘tally’ and notes it down.
| 1886 P. Clarke New Chum in Australia xii. 175 As a ‘hundred’ is called, one of us calls out ‘tally’, and cuts one notch in a stick. 1894 Northumbld. Gloss. s.v., If the articles are counted singly, they are called out up to the nineteenth; but instead of..‘twenty’, the word tally is substituted; thus ‘eighteen, nineteen, tally’... In counting articles that can be lifted in groups the tale is thus made—‘five, ten, fifteen, tally’. |
† 6. A mark (such as the notch of a tally) representing a unit quantity, or a series or set of units.
| 1719 D'Urfey Pills (1872) III. 314 In Courts had all their Heart's desire, For every Kiss a Tally. Ibid. IV. 264 He notcht his Arse with Tallies. 1807 Crabbe Parish Reg. i. 252 Where chalky tallies yet remain in rows. |
7. a. A distinguishing mark on a bale or case of merchandise, etc., corresponding to one in a list, for the purpose of comparison or identification; hence, a mark, label, ticket, or tab, used for this purpose, or to denote the weight and contents, etc.
| 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick I. xli. 303 Tying a lettered leathern tally round its neck. 1860 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea vi. §324 But the air is invisible; and it is not easily perceived how either marks or tallies may be put on it, that it may be traced. 1865 Morning Star 27 Jan., I entered the weights in the landing-book, and marked them in the tallies..and I saw a great number of the tallies afterwards put on the bales. |
b. Coal-mining. (See quots.)
| 1883 Gresley Coal Mining Gloss., Tally, a mark or number placed by a collier upon every tub of coals loaded... They are usually little bits of tin having a number stamped upon them. 1890 N. & Q. 7th Ser. X. 297/2 At many pits it is customary to send the tubs of coals to bank with tin tallies attached... This tally is so that the banksmen and weighmen may place the coals to the credit of the men working in the banks below, the banks and tallies bearing the same numbers. |
c. spec. in Gardening, A tab or label of wood, metal, etc., on which are inscribed the name, class, etc. of the plant or tree to which it is attached, or beside which it is stuck in the ground.
| 1822 Loudon Encycl. Gard. iii. iv. 1190 Every plant [in a Botanical Garden] ought to have its name painted on strong cast-iron talleys. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXIV. 17/1 Many different kinds of tally are used in gardens and arboretums, to bear either numbers referring to a catalogue, or the names of the plants near which they are placed. 1870 Thornbury Tour Eng. I. i. 23 The..gray stone, the tally to mark a seed plot in Death's neglected garden. 1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 234/2 Tallies of wood [in horticulture] should be slightly smeared with white paint and then written on while damp with a black-lead pencil. |
d. A tie-label, tab, or tag for luggage, etc.
| 1909 Advt., Temple Tower Tallies, 1d. per packet, strung ready for use. |
e. Naut. slang. (See quots 1929, 1946). Also cap-tally = tally ribbon, sense 9 c below.
| 1929 F. C. Bowen Sea Slang 138 Tally, a name or name-plate of any description. 1945 ‘Tackline’ Holiday Sailor i. 9 We queued-up before him to have our cap-tallies—not cap-ribbons, we now discovered—secured about our caps with the authentic sailor's-knot. 1946 J. Irving Royal Navalese 172 Tally, a sailor's name is his ‘tally’—e.g. ‘Answer your tally!’ |
¶ 8. Used as = tail n.2 2 b. Obs.
| 1609 Overbury Observ. St. France Wks. (1856) 238 The gentrie are the onely entire body there, which participate with the prerogatives of the crowne; for from it they receive..supply to their estates, by governments and pensions, and freedome from tallies upon their owne lands. 1642 Howell For. Trav. (Arb.) 74 When one hath seene the Tally and taillage of France,..the Assise of Holland, the Gabels of Italy,..hee will blesse God, and love England better ever after. |
9. attrib. and Comb. a. Simple attrib. and obj. gen., as (from 1 a, 1 b) tally-broker, tally-court, tally-cutter, tally-office, tally-stick; (from 2 a, 2 b, 2 e) tally-book, tally-check, tally-keeper, tally-table; b. in reference to the instalment or petty credit system (cf. 2 c) worked by the tallyman, as tally-business, tally-draper, tally-master, tally-packman, tally-room, tally-shop, tally-system, tally-trade. c. Special combs.: tally band Naut. = tally ribbon below; tally-board, a board on which an account is notched or chalked; e.g. one on which the record of a weaver's work is kept (Eng. Dial. Dict.); tally card U.S., a score-card; tally-clerk, one who checks merchandise with a list in loading or discharging cargo; also (U.S.), one who assists in counting and recording votes; tally-husband (slang), a man who ‘lives tally’ (4 b) with a woman; tally-mark = sense 7; tally-pot, a vessel in which records of a counting or voting are placed (Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895); tally ribbon Naut., a sailor's cap-ribbon bearing the name of his ship (cf. sense 7 e above); tally-room (Ireland), a committee-room at an election; tally-sheet, a score-sheet, esp. (U.S.) in recording votes; tally-shouter (Mining), see quot.; tally-stick, a stick used as or like a tally (sense 1); tally-writer, formerly, the clerk who wrote the description and amount of the payment on two opposite sides of the exchequer tallies. See also tallyman, woman.
| 1977 Times 7 Jan. (Royal Navy Suppl.) p. ii/6 That dear little pancake hat with its silk *tally band;..I believe that it was because of that little hat that I had joined the WRNS in the first place. |
| 1965 J. S. Gunn Terminol. Shearing Industry ii. 31 *Tally book, the official record of what every man has shorn in each run of the day. 1972 T. A. Bulman Kamloops Cattlemen xxxi. 178 Our tally books showed that we were short a bull and six head of cattle. |
| 1849 James Woodman vii, You have not got the *tally board so completely in your hand, my friend. |
| a 1716 South Serm. (1717) IV. 154 Such a Money-Monger, such a *Tally-Broker, and Cheater of the Publick. 1851 *Tally-business [see tally-master]. 1862 M. E. Braddon Lady Audley xxvii, You're not connected with—with the tally business, are you, sir? |
| 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., *Tally card. 1928 Publisher's Weekly 14 July 172 Allied with these are tally cards, playing cards, novelties and party favors. |
| 1884 Times (weekly ed.) 10 Oct. 13/4 Rudely inscribed potsherds..*tally-checks scrawled with entries of time-labour and food-wages. |
| 1890 Daily News 13 Sept. 6/4 A large number of ships' *tally clerks,..have not had a day's work for weeks. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 25 Feb. 2/1 There is a duplicate of this board, but on a small scale, placed on the desk of the tally-clerk, so that the record of the votes is constantly before his eyes. |
| 1684 E. Chamberlayne Pres. St. Eng. ii. (ed. 15) 105 In the *Tally Court—the *Tally-cutter attends. 1786 St. Paper in Ann. Reg. 193/1 The tally writer..takes an account of the sum, and writes it on both sides of the tally delivered to him, with the sum cut upon it in notches by the tally-cutter. |
| 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abroad v. 55 The *tally-keeper..tallied one for the opposition in his book. 1883 Gilmour Mongols xviii. 247 Ocher..threw up his office of tally-keeper. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 383/2 The ‘travellers’..are occasionally shopmen, for a ‘large’ *tally-master not unfrequently carries on a retail trade in addition to his tally-business. |
| 1631 Sir S. D'Ewes Jrnl. Parlt. (1783) 52 That unjust and rare recorde called Domesdei in the *tallie-office of the Exchequer. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 381/1 The pedlar or hawking tallyman travels for orders... The great majority of the *tally-packmen are Scotchmen. |
| 1919 W. Lang Sea Lawyer's Log 14 Those three caps, too, look very smart, with the neat, white canvas cover which we wear during the summer months, and the *tally ribbon with its tricky little bow on the left side. |
| 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xvii, The popular tunes..in the *tally rooms, while the fellows are waiting to go up. 1910 Daily News 24 Jan. 8 Mr. Wood could neither show himself in the place nor get a tally-room, as they call their committee-rooms there [Lisburn]. |
| 1889 Century Mag. Feb. 622/1 The growing dispositon [in U.S.] to tamper with the ballot-box and the *tally-sheet. 1893 Scribner's Mag. June 779/2 To call her attention to a tally-sheet, covering a period of three calendar months. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 32/1 The poor,..pawnbrokers, loan-offices, *tally-shops, dolly-shops, are the only parties who will trust them. 1870 Public Opinion 16 July, [He] described from personal inspection the low quality of the provisions supplied in the tally-shops. |
| 1883 Gresley Coal Mining Gloss., *Tally-shouter, one who shouts out the numbers on the tallies to the weigher. |
| 1830 Virginia Lit. Museum 27 Jan. 526/2 A ‘negro boy, with a *talley stick was a statesman complete in his school’. a 1861 T. Winthrop Canoe & Saddle (1863) vii. 153 She could not tell how many [years], having dropped her tally-stick in the fire..that very day. 1895 Hoffman Beginnings of Writ. 140 Several tribes of Indians, in California, employed a variety of tallysticks to record transactions in business. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 49 They hopefully notched away the moons on their tally⁓sticks. |
| 1850 J. R. Planché Island of Jewels ii. i. 21 Is it all a trick, you make this mighty splash on, Or, is the *tally system here in fashion? 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 372/2 Some had been unsuccessful as tallymen when shopkeepers, or travellers for tally-shops, and have resorted to hawking or street-trading,..blending the tally system with the simple rules of sale for ready money. |
| 1829 Cobbett Adv. Yng. Man ii. 60 The ‘*Tally-trade’ by which household goods, coals, clothing, all sorts of things are sold upon credit, the seller keeping a tally, and receiving payment..little by little. 1851 Mayhew Lond. L. I. 383/1 Establishments, ‘doing largely’ in the tally-trade. 1786 *Tally writer [see tally-cutter]. |
▪ II. † tally, n.2 Cards. Obs.
[f. tally v.3: cf. F. taille from tailler to deal.]
At faro, basset, etc., A deal.
| 1706 S. Centlivre Basset Table iv. 53 Captain... Pray count the Cards, I believe there's a false Tally. Sir James... No, they are Right, Sir (Sir James counts em). 1760 Foote Minor iii. (1781) 65 A most infernal run. Let's see (Pulls out a card) Loader a thousand, the Baron two, Tally—Enough to beggar a banker. |
▪ III. ˈtally, n.3 rare.
Short for tally-ho.
So tally v.4, to signal with tally-ho!
| 1886 Fortescue Stag Hunting on Exmoor (1887) 180 Another hundred yards of slow hunting, and then a loud tally proclaims a fresh find. Ibid. 182 The farmer is half inclined to fear he has tallied a fresh hind. |
▪ IV. tally, v.1
(ˈtælɪ)
Forms: see tally n.1
[f. tally n.1 Cf. also med.L. talliāre to cut (wood); also, to conform or cause to correspond in number or measure: see Du Cange.
(Some of the uses may have been influenced by association with L. tālis such, tālio giving like for like.)]
I. 1. a. trans. † To notch (a stick) so as to make it a tally (obs.); hence, to mark, score, set down or enter (a number, etc.) on or as on a tally; transf. to record, register.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 486/1 Talyyn, or scoryn' on taly, tallio, dico. 1632 Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 94 M{supr}{sups} Jennet Carrier had a knife in her hand,..to tally a sticke to shewe how many dishes full there were. 1633 Ford Broken H. iv. i, So provident is folly in sad issue, That afterwit, like bankrupt's debts, stands tallied, Without all possibilities of payment. a 1640 W. Fenner Sacr. Faithf. (1648) 53 There is not one of them that God tallies down, or reckons for a praier. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 18 At every tenth Call perhaps you may tally down a Sailor. 1890 Century Mag. June 205/2 These [field judges] measure and tally the trials of competitors in jumps, pole vaults [etc.]. |
b. spec. To identify, count, and enter each bale, case, article, etc. of a cargo or lot of goods in loading or discharging.
| 1812 J. Smyth Pract. of Customs (1821) 7 Goods paying Duty by Tale, are, at the delivery, to be tallied at 1, 10, 20, &c. according to the nature thereof. 1886 Pall Mall G. 29 Jan. 5/2 Upon the mates of ships..falls the bulk of the work and responsibility entailed in getting a ship ready to receive cargo, in ‘tallying’ the cargo, in preparing her to leave port [etc.]. 1899 F. T. Bullen Log Sea-waif 226 No pretence was made of tallying in the cargo. |
c. To furnish (a bale of goods, etc.) with a tally or identifying label; to distinguish, mark, or identify by or as by a tally: see tally n.1 7.
| 1837 Marryat Dog-Fiend xxxiv, Leaving his people to mark and tally the bales. 1860 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea (Low) vi. §332 We have tallied the air, and put labels on the wind. 1865 Morn. Star 27 Jan., If a number of bales were tallied as having arrived by a vessel called the Onwards, the label with the mark ‘Onwards’ on it was taken off and another marked the ‘City of Dublin’ placed in its stead. |
d. Sport (chiefly N. Amer.). To score (a run, goal, etc.). (a) intr.
| 1867 Ball Players' Chron. 14 Nov. 2/4 Taylor took his first on a muff by Banker and tallied on passed balls. 1903 N.Y. Times 18 Aug. 5/2 The home players tallied only five times during the entire contest. 1931 Randolph Enterprise (Elkins, W. Va.) 9 July 5/3 The nine from Randolph had tallied five times in the same frame. 1947 Sun (Baltimore) 8 Nov. 12/2 The visitors tallied for the first time in the opening minutes of the game when Ann Worthington sent a hard shot into the corner of the cage. 1968 [see period n. 4 f]. 1974 Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer 13 Oct. C.2/3 Terell tallied on a two-yard run and took a pass from Jeff Starrett 70 yards for a second score. |
(b) trans.
| 1875 Chicago Tribune 24 Aug. 5/6 A furious overthrow by Beals at second..tallied three unearned runs. 1966 Telegraph (Brisbane) 22 Jan. 5/2 He started racing in November, and in five starts has tallied a win, second, and a third. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 6 July 1-c/6 The Angels tallied their fifth run in the third inning as Bob Brenly came on a Young single to short center. |
2. a. To count or reckon up, to number.
| 1542 Becon Pathw. Prayer vi. C viij, Some..vpon theyr bedes taly vp I cannot tel howe many lady Psalters. 1586 W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie (Arb.) 62 The first or the first couple hauing twelue sillables, the other fourteene, which versifyers call Powlters measure, because so they talle their wares by dozens. 1598 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) II. 335 Two men, to serve..att the pitt, to take the reckoninges, the one..who doth tallee the horses. 1648 Bp. Hall Breath. Devout Soul iv. 5, I have not kept even reckonings with thee; I have not justly tallied up thy inestimable benefits. 1660 Col. J. Okie's Lament. 10, I must not tally the Account of our State Stinking Beer. 1885 A. Munro Siren Casket (1889) 85 They anchor'd at morning to tally their spoil. |
b. fig. To reckon, estimate (with obj. clause). colloq. rare.
| 1860 Holland Miss Gilbert xix, You can't hardly tally how she's coming out because she ain't exactly a woman yet. |
† 3. intr. To deal on tally or credit; to open or have a credit account with any one. Obs.
| 1596 [see tail v.2 8, quot. 1570]. 1724 Swift Drapier's Lett. Wks. 1755 V. ii. 25 Several gentlemen have been forced to tally with their workmen, and give them bits of cards sealed and subscribed with their names. |
II. † 4. trans. fig. To cause (things) to correspond or agree; to ‘match’; pa. pple. matched, suited, adapted. Obs.
| 1627 Bp. Hall Holy Observ. Wks. 50 Morall philosophy [teacheth] that tallying of iniuries is iustice; diuinitie, that good must be returned for ill. c 1717 Prior Epitaph 16 They seem'd just tallied for each other. a 1745 Pope (J.), They are not so well tallied to the present juncture. 1812 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 177 Peculiarly tallied in interests, by each wanting exactly what the other has to spare. |
† 5. a. To compare, as tallies, for the purpose of verifying an account, etc. Obs.
| 1702 Lond. Gaz. No. 3827/4 These are to give Notice to all the Fortunate in Sydenham's Land-Lottery..to bring their Prize Tickets, in order to have the same Tallied. 1703 Ibid. No. 3963/4 All Persons, whose Tickets in the late Land-Lottery have not been tallied and reported. |
† b. fig. To bring into comparison, compare.
| 1773 J. Ross Fratricide vi. 478 (MS.) What but a shadow is this mortal life When tally'd with eternity? |
6. intr. To agree, as one half of a cloven tally with its fellow; to correspond or answer exactly; to accord, conform, fit. Const. † to (obs.), with. (The chief current sense.)
| 1705 Addison Italy 227, I found pieces of Tiles that exactly tally'd with the Channel. 1720 Lett. Lond. Jrnl. (1721) 64 The Courage and Understanding of her [the High Church's] Passive Sons Tally to each other. 1727 Swift Gulliver iv. xii, Neither shall I ever be able to comprehend how such an animal [Yahoo], and such a vice [pride], could tally together. 1738 Warburton Div. Legat. I. 271 A Theory that does not exactly tally with fact. 1757 Da Costa in Phil. Trans. L. 229 The impressions of ferns, grasses, &c. are easily recognizable, they so minutely tally to the plants they represent. 1779 J. Moore View Soc. Fr. (1789) I. xxiv. 188 High hills, whose opposite sides tally so exactly. 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon II. 82 It tallies exactly with what the others have said. |
III. (? Connected with tales.)
7. trans. (?) To summon or empanel as a juryman.
| 1776 in Stonehouse Axholme (1839) 145 None of the Lord's tenants, either freehold or copyhold, to be tallied out of the Manor, to the Assizes, Sessions, or Sheriff's Court. |
▪ V. ˈtally, v.2 Naut. Now rare.
[Origin obscure.]
1. trans. To haul taut (the fore or main leesheets). Hence tallied ppl. a.2
| c 1450 Pilgrim's Sea-Voy. 19 in Stacions Rome (1867) 37 A boy or tweyn Anone up styen, And ouerthwart the sayle⁓yerde lyen;—‘Y how! taylia!’ the remenaunt cryen, And pulle with alle theyr myght. a 1625 Nomenclator Navalis (Harl. MS. 2301), When they hale aft the Sheate of Maine or Fore-Saile, they saie Tallee aft the Sheate. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ix. 39 Get your Starboord tacks aboord, and tally or hale off your Lee-Sheats. 1762–9 Falconer Shipwr. ii. 212 Taught aft the sheet they tally, and belay. 1769 ― Dict. Marine (1789), Border les écoutes tout plat, to tally the sheets flat aft. 1836 E. Howard R. Reefer xxx, By hauling along tallied bights of rope. |
2. intr. To catch hold or ‘clap’ on to a rope.
| 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxviii. 97 All hands tallied on to the cat-fall. Ibid. xxxv. 133 All hands tally-on to the main tack. 1896 Kipling Seven Seas 93 Heh! Tally on. Aft and walk away with her! Handsome to the Cathead now; O tally on the fall! |
▪ VI. † tally, v.3 Cards. Obs.
Also 8 (taillé), tailly.
[ad. F. tailler to cut, esp. to deal at faro, etc.: see tail v.2]
intr. At faro, basset, and similar games, To be banker (i.e. to deal).
| [1701 Farquhar Sir H. Wildair i. i, The French marquis, you know, constantly taillés. Ibid. ii. ii, I relied altogether on your setting the cards; you used to taillé with success.] 1706 S. Centlivre Basset Table iv. 52 Lady R. Sir James, pray will you Tally? Sir J. With all my Heart, Madam. (Takes the Cards and shuffles them.) 1715 Lady M. W. Montagu Basset-table 68 Wretch that I was, how often have I swore When Winnall tally'd, I wou'd Punt no more? 1716 ― Let. to C'tess of Mar 17 Dec., The duke taillys at basset every night. 1748 H. Walpole Let. to Mann 26 Dec., I don't know whom your Highness will get to tally to you; you know I am ruined by dealing. |
▪ VII. tally, v.4
see tally n.3
▪ VIII. tally, adv. Now rare or Obs.
(ˈtɔːllɪ)
[f. tall a. + -ly2.]
In a tall manner.
† 1. In a seemly manner; becomingly, elegantly; fairly, well; bravely. Obs.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 1706 Sche..borwed boiȝes cloþes, & talliche hire a-tyred tiȝtli þer-inne. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8813 When this taburnacle atyrit was tally to end, Thai closit hit full clanly, all with clene ambur. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 486/1 Tally,..in semely wyse, decenter, eleganter. 1450 Anc. Deed A. 8559 (P.R.O.) in Catalogue IV. 327 [Proctour should come to the] Hall of Broghton and ther tawly besek John of Broghton [es]qwier to be his gode master. |
2. Highly, loftily.
| 1611 Cotgr., Hautement, highly, tally. 1613 Fletcher, etc. Captain ii. ii, You Ludovick That stand so tally on your reputation You shall be he shall speake it. |