Tau

See also: Appendix:Variations of "tau"

English

Etymology

Variant of Tao.

Proper noun

Tau (plural Taus)

1. A surname from Chinese.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Tau is the 41359^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 526 individuals. Tau is most common among Asian/Pacific Islander (58.94%) and White (27.95%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Tau”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taʊ̯/, [tʰaʊ̯]

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Tau
• Rhymes: -aʊ̯

Etymology 1

From Middle High German tou, from Old High German tou, from Proto-Germanic *dawwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“smoke, haze”). Compare Low German Dau, Dutch dauw, English dew, compare also Danish dug.

Noun

Tau m (strong, genitive Taues or Taus, no plural)

1. dew

Declension

Declension of Tau [sg-only, masculine, strong]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Tau
genitive	eines	des	Taues, Taus
dative	einem	dem	Tau, Taue1
accusative	einen	den	Tau

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• Morgentau
• Sonnentau
• Taufliege

Related terms

• tauen (partly)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle Low German [Term?], from Old Saxon tou, from Proto-Germanic *tawwą.

Noun

Tau n (strong, genitive Taues or Taus, plural Taue)

1. strong rope

Declension

Declension of Tau [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Tau	die	Taue
genitive	eines	des	Taues, Taus	der	Taue
dative	einem	dem	Tau, Taue1	den	Tauen
accusative	ein	das	Tau	die	Taue

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• vertäuen

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ταῦ (taû); see English tau.

Noun

Tau n (strong, genitive Taus, plural Taus)

1. tau (greek letter)
   • 1866, Willibald Raila, Der Vokal-Akzent, ein bisher unformulirtes Gesez der Sprachen, insbesonders der deütschen Sprache, page 35:

     Aus zwei Sigma zwei Tau, z. B. πραττειν – πρασσειν zu sprechen, ahmt der Deütsche auch dem Griechen nach, z. B. Splitter und Splisser.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Declension of Tau [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Tau	die	Taus
genitive	eines	des	Taus	der	Taus
dative	einem	dem	Tau	den	Taus
accusative	ein	das	Tau	die	Taus

Etymology 4

Noun

Tau f (genitive Tau, no plural)

1. (ethnography) Tao people

Further reading

• “Tau” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Tau” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Tau” in Duden online
• Tau on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Norwegian Bokmål

Proper noun

Tau

1. Tau (a village outside Stavanger, located in the municipality of Strand, Rogaland)

Anagrams

• aut-, tau, tua, uta-

Norwegian Nynorsk

View of the village

Etymology

Uncertain, but etymologists have pointed to a couple of explanations. One proposes a derivation of Old Norse taufr (“sorcery, charms”), in reference to the practice of primitive magic in the area, reckoning Taufr to be a name of the creek running through. Another proposes a relationship with Old Norse taug (“string, rope”) and teygja (“to stretch out”), in reference to the nature of waterflow of said creek.

It was attested through the late medieval and early modern periods as a Taufer (1389), Taugir (1427), and af Thawgh (1463), Thow (1563), Touu (1567), Thouff (1602), Though (1606), Thoug (1610), Thov (1661), and Toug (1723). Another spelling, Tou, is still preserved in the name of a local brewery.

Proper noun

Tau

1. Tau (a village outside Stavanger, located in the municipality of Strand, Rogaland)

Anagrams

• aut-, tau, tua

Saterland Frisian

n Tau.

Etymology

From Old Frisian tau, from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *tawwą. Cognates include West Frisian tou and German Tau.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taːu̯/
• Hyphenation: Tau
• Rhymes: -aːu̯

Noun

Tau n (plural Taue)

1. rope

References

• Marron C. Fort (2015) “Tau”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN