Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TALL, a. [W. tal; talâu, to grow tall. The primary sense is to stretch or extend; W. tellu, to stretch; Sp. talla, raised work, also stature; talle, shape, size; tallo, a shoot or sprout; talludo, tall, slender; talon, the heel, that is, a shoot; Port. talo, a stalk; taludo, stalky; Ar. طَالَ taula, to be long, to spread, to be extended, to defer or delay, that is, to draw out in time, Eng. dally, Class Dl, No. 20; allied probably to L. tollo, Gr. τελλω. In Sw. tall is a pine-tree.]

1. High in stature; long and comparatively slender; applied to a person, or to a standing tree, mast or pole. Tall always refers to something erect, and of which the diameter is small in proportion to the highth. We say, a tall man or woman, a tall boy for his age; a tall tree, a tall pole, a tall mast; but we never say, a tall house or a tall mountain. The application of the word to a palace or its shadow, in Waller, is now improper. Dark shadows cast, and as his palace tall. Waller.
2. Sturdy; lusty; bold. [Unusual.] Shak.