Masculine

talg

Meaning

  1. (masculine, no-diminutive, uncountable) sebum; skin fat
  2. (masculine, no-diminutive, uncountable) tallow

Translations

Pronounced as (IPA)
/tɑlx/
Etymology

In summary

Borrowed in the sense “sebum” in the early 20th century from German Talg (“tallow; sebum”), from Middle Low German talg, from Old Saxon *talg, from Proto-West Germanic *talg, from Proto-Germanic *talgaz. For “tallow”, the standard Dutch form was talk, but the borrowed form is now preferred in this sense as well, probably in order to avoid the homophony with talk (“talc”). This development may have been reinforced by inherited dialectal forms with -g, from Middle Dutch talch, which had been unused in written Dutch since the 18th century.

Notes

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