tasel

Middle English

Alternative forms

• tasell, tasil, tasille, tasul, tasylle, tazel, tesel, tesell, tesle, tesyll

Etymology

From Old English tǣsl, tǣsel, from Proto-West Germanic *taisilu; equivalent to tesen +‎ -el (agentive suffix).

Forms with /a/, /aː/ are presumably from trisyllabic shortening in Old English inflected forms.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtaːzəl/, /ˈtazəl/, /ˈtɛːzəl/

Noun

tasel (plural taseles)

1. teasel (Dipsacus sativus) or a similar plant.
2. Part of the teasel used to full cloth.

Descendants

• English: teasel, teazle, teasle, teazel, tazel
• Scots: taisle, taissle, tassle

References

• “tēsel, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.