LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinesecond declension

tālus

tālus m (genitive tālī)
Classical[ˈtaː.ɫʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈtaː.lus]

Meaning

  1. the ankle or anklebone (of animals), talus; knucklebone
  2. an oblong die rounded at its ends and only marked on its other four sides
  3. figurativelythe heel

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

pars pedis posterior, quā pēs crūrī iungitur
tālus -ī (m) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 19

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativetālustālī
genitivetālītālōrum
dativetālōtālīs
accusativetālumtālōs
ablativetālōtālīs
vocativetāletālī

tālus, i, m. from tax-lus; root tak-, tvak-; cf. Gr. τάσσω, whence taxus; cf. taxillus,
I. the ankle, ankle-bone; of animals, the pastern-bone, knuckle-bone (syn. calx).
I. Lit., Ov. M. 4, 343; Cels. 8, 1 fin.; 8, 7 fin.; 8, 22; Plin. 11, 46, 106, § 253; Ov. M. 8, 808: talum expellere, to dislocate, Mart. 8, 75, 3: extorsisse, Sen. Ben. 5, 24, 1.—
II. Transf.
A. The heel: purpura ad talos demissa, Cic. Clu. 40, 111; Hor. S. 1, 2, 29 and 99; cf. id. ib. 1, 9, 11: talos a vertice pulcher ad imos, id. Ep. 2, 2, 4: summaque vix talos contigit unda meos, Ov. Am. 3, 6, 6: nudus, Juv. 7, 16.—Poet.: securus, cadat an recto stet fabula talo, whether it stands or falls, i. e. whether it succeeds or fails, Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 176; cf.: tibi recto vivere talo Ars dedit, i. e. to act well, conduct one's self well, Pers. 5, 104.—
B. A die (orig. made from the knuckle-bones of certain animals) of an oblong shape, rounded at the ends, and marked only on the other four sides (cf. alea); while the tesserae were cubes, and marked on all six sides. Four tali were used in playing, but only three tesserae: ad pilam se aut ad talos se aut ad tesseras conferunt, Cic. de Or. 3, 15, 58; id. Sen. 16, 58; Plaut. Curc. 2, 3, 75; 2, 3, 79; id. Capt. 1, 1, 5; Cic. Div. 1, 13, 23; 2, 21, 48; id. Fin. 3, 16, 54; Aug. ap. Suet. Aug. 71; Prop. 4 (5), 8, 45; Hor. C. 1, 4, 18; id. S. 2, 3, 171; 2, 7, 17; cf. Becker, Gallus, 3, p. 253 sq.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*teh₂g-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*téh₂g-s-los?
  3. Proto-Italic*tākslos
  4. Latintālus

From Proto-Italic *tākslos, with multiple theories proposed: * Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *téh₂g-s-los, from *teh₂g- (“to touch”) (whence tangō). * Alternatively, cognate with Sanskrit तल (tala, “plane, surface”). * From *steh₂- (“to stand”) + *-tleh₂/*-dʰleh₂ (instrument noun suffix), and directly cognate with Welsh sawdl (“heel”). This is phonetically difficult, as it requires an s-less variant of *steh₂-, as well as addition of an unknown and arbitrary suffix *-k-.

Borrowings
  • Englishtalus
  • Frenchtalus
  • Italiantalo
  • Italiantalismo
  • Portuguesetálus
  • Middle Frenchtale
Elsewhere
  • Italiantallonefrom Vulgar Latin *tālōnis
  • Old Frenchtalonfrom Vulgar Latin *tālōnis

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesTalusTalus (ἀστράγαλος), the name of a bone in the hind leg of cloven-footed animals which articulates with the tibia and helps to form the ankle-joint (Ar…

Quick answers

What does tālus mean in Latin?
tālus, a noun, means “the ankle or anklebone (of animals), talus; knucklebone; an oblong die rounded at its ends and only marked on its other four sides”.
What is the genitive of tālus?
The genitive singular is tālī. tālus is masculine, second declension.
How do you pronounce tālus?
In classical Latin, [ˈtaː.ɫʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈtaː.lus].
Where does tālus come from?
Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- → Proto-Indo-European *téh₂g-s-los? → Proto-Italic *tākslos → Latin tālus.