The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
Appendix I
Indo-European Roots
ENTRY:
tel-
DEFINITION:
To lift, support, weigh; with derivatives referring to measured weights and thence to money and payment. Oldest form *tel2-. Derivatives include tolerate, retaliate, tantalize, Atlas, translate, and extol. 1. Suffixed form *tel-mon-.telamon, from Greek telamn, supporter, bearer. 2. Suffixed form *tel()-es-.a.toll1; philately, from Greek telos, tax, charge; b.tolerate, from Latin tolerre, to bear, endure. 3. Suffixed zero-grade form *t-i-.talion; retaliate, from Latin tli, reciprocal punishment in kind, possibly “something paid out,” from *tali- (influenced by tlis, such). 4. Suffixed variant zero-grade form *tala-nt-.talent, from Greek talanton, balance, weight, any of several specific weights of gold or silver, hence the sum of money represented by such a weight. 5. Perhaps (but unlikely) intensive reduplicated form *tantal-.tantalize, Tantalus, from Greek Tantalos, name of a legendary king, “the sufferer.” 6. Perhaps (but unlikely) zero-grade form *t-.Atlantic, Atlas, from Greek Atls (stem Atlant-), name of the Titan supporting the world. 7. Suffixed zero-grade form *t-to-.ablation, ablative, allative, collate, dilatory, elate, elative, illation, illative, legislator, oblate1, prelate, prolate, relate, sublate, superlative, translate, from Latin ltus, “carried, borne,” used as the suppletive past participle of ferre, to bear (see bher-1), with its compounds. 8. Suffixed zero-grade form *t--.tola, from Sanskrit tul, scales, balance, weight. 9. Nasalized zero-grade form *t-n--.extol, from Latin tollere, to lift. (Pokorny 1. tel- 1060.)
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n, supporter, bearer. 2. Suffixed form *tel(
re, to bear, endure. 3. Suffixed zero-grade form *t
