† countertailn.
Obsolete.
1. The opposite half of a tally; a tally or score kept to check another.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > keeping accounts > account or statement of > [noun] > receipt > part of tally
countertailc1430
countertally1440
swatch?a1527
stock1642
counterfoil1706
counterstock1706
c1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 71 Þi reckenyng bi tyme bisili þou make, Or þe deuel bringe þe countirtaile.
a1500 Piers of Fulham (James) in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1866) II. 9 Hys paymentes ben scored on the countertayle.
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Qiii/2 A Countretayle, anticopa.
1617 J. Minsheu Ἡγεμὼν είς τὰς γλῶσσας: Ductor in Linguas A Countertaile or Countertallie, or tallie to confirme or confute another tallie..because it is a piece of wood which the one partie keepeth, that is cut off from another peece that the other partie keepeth: and so when both parties meet with their tallies, they score vp the number of that which is deliuered and receiued, by cutting a notch with a knife. [Hence in subsequent Dicts.]
2. A counter-stroke.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > [noun] > return blow or attack
countertailc1430
counterbuff?1578
countercuff1589
revie1589
cross-blow1590
counterblow1706
riposte1854
counterstroke1876
the world > movement > impact > striking > [noun] > returning a blow > return blow or stroke
countertailc1430
counterbuff?1578
countercuff1589
revie1589
counterstroke1596
after-blow1607
counterblow1655
return1702
return stroke1838
c1430 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) vi. iii. 149 b Agayn the malice, to make a countertaile Of proude Silla, the malice eft tassayle.
1436 in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1859) II. 174 The countertayles Of oure enmyes.
3. at the countertail: in reply, in retort.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > [adverb]
againOE
i-gainc1325
againwarda1382
at the countertailc1386
in rejoinder1556
responsibly1653
c1386 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 1134 Folweth Ekko that holdeth no silence, But euere answereth at the countretaille.
c1430 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1840) 130 Alweys at the Countre~taile Theyr [wives] tunge clappithe and dothe hewe.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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