n. & v.
--n. (pl. -ies)
1. the reckoning of a debt or score.
2 a total score or amount.
3 a a mark registering a fixed number of objects delivered or received. b such a number as a unit.
4 hist. a a piece of wood scored across with notches for the items of an account and then split into halves, each party keeping one. b an account kept in this way.
5 a ticket or label for identification.
6 a corresponding thing, counterpart, or duplicate.
--v. (-ies, -ied) (often foll. by with)
1. intr. agree or correspond.
2 tr. record or reckon by tally.
Phrases and idioms:
tally clerk an official who keeps a tally of goods, esp. those loaded or unloaded in docks. tally sheet a paper on which a tally is kept. tally system a system of sale on short credit or instalments with an account kept by tally.
Derivatives:
tallier n.
Etymology: ME f. AF tallie, AL tallia, talia f. L talea: cf. TAIL(2)