tally
Americannoun
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an account or reckoning; a record of debit and credit, of the score of a game, or the like.
- Synonyms:
- enumeration, count, inventory
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Also called tally stick. a stick of wood with notches cut to indicate the amount of a debt or payment, often split lengthwise across the notches, the debtor retaining one piece and the creditor the other.
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anything on which a score or account is kept.
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a notch or mark made on or in a tally.
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a number or group of items recorded.
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a mark made to register a certain number of items, as four consecutive vertical lines with a diagonal line through them to indicate a group of five.
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a number of objects serving as a unit of computation.
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a ticket, label, or mark used as a means of identification, classification, etc.
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anything corresponding to another thing as a counterpart or duplicate.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to correspond, as one part of a tally with the other; accord or agree.
Does his story tally with hers?
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to score a point or make a goal, as in a game.
verb
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(intr) to correspond one with the other
the two stories don't tally
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(tr) to supply with an identifying tag
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(intr) to keep score
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obsolete (tr) to record or mark
noun
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any record of debit, credit, the score in a game, etc
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a ticket, label, or mark, used as a means of identification, classification, etc
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a counterpart or duplicate of something, such as the counterfoil of a cheque
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a stick used (esp formerly) as a record of the amount of a debt according to the notches cut in it
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a notch or mark cut in or made on such a stick
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a mark or number of marks used to represent a certain number in counting
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the total number of sheep shorn by one shearer in a specified period of time
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tallysimple
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talliessimple
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have talliedperfect
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has talliedperfect
-
are tallyingprogressive
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am tallyingprogressive
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is tallyingprogressive
-
have been tallyingperfect progressive
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has been tallyingperfect progressive
Past
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talliedsimple
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had talliedperfect
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was tallyingprogressive
-
were tallyingprogressive
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had been tallyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tally
1275–1325; (noun) Middle English taly < Medieval Latin talia, variant of Latin tālea rod, cutting, literally, heel-piece, derivative of tālus heel; (v.) late Middle English talyen, derivative of the noun
Explanation
A tally is a continuous count of something, like the number of words in a document, or the number of favors your best friend owes you. To tally is to add up, like keeping the score of a game. The word tally has to do with counting. It comes from the Latin word for “stick” because people used to keep a tally by marking a stick. Tally can be the total, or the act of adding it all up. If you count the bikers riding by, your count is a tally. As a verb, tally is used for keeping score. Two friends playing basketball need to tally the points after each basket so they don't lose track.
Vocabulary lists containing tally
Electoral Elocution: The Verbiage of Voting
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This Week in Words: December 9 - 15, 2017
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for October 31–November 6, 2020
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Three points could well be enough if the goals against tally is low.
From BBC • Jun. 14, 2026
They didn’t analyze your sleep, chat with you or tally your steps.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
While not an official count, the tally has been an accurate indicator of the final result in previous polls.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
Los Angeles County, which includes the metropolis's suburbs, has an official tally of 72,000 unhoused people, 47,000 of whom sleep on the street.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
“Woody’s going to tally up the losses,” he says.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
