toll

Etymology 1

From Middle English toll, tol, tolle, from Old English toll m or n and toln f (“toll, duty, custom”), from Proto-West Germanic *toll, *tolnu, from Proto-Germanic *tullaz, *tullō (“that which is counted or told, reckoning”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol- (“calculation, fraud”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tol (“toll”), Dutch tol (“toll”), German Zoll (“toll, duty, customs”), Danish told (“toll, duty, tariff”), Swedish tull (“toll, customs”), Icelandic tollur (“toll, customs”). More at tell, tale. Alternate etymology derives Old English toll, from Medieval Latin tolōneum, tolōnium, alteration (due to the Germanic forms above) of Latin telōneum, from Ancient Greek τελώνιον (telṓnion, “toll-house”), from τέλος (télos, “tax”).

noun

1. A fee paid for some liberty or privilege, particularly for the privilege of passing over a bridge or on a highway, or for that of vending goods in a fair, market, etc.
2. Loss or damage incurred through a disaster.
   The war has taken its toll on the people.
3. A fee paid by the owner of materials or other goods for processing such goods, as under a tolling agreement.
   toll ore refining; toll manufacturing
4. (business, by extension) A fee for using any kind of material processing service.
   We can handle on a toll basis your needs for spray drying, repackaging, crushing and grinding, and dry blending.
5. (US) A tollbooth.
   We will be replacing some manned tolls with high-speed device readers.
6. (UK, law, obsolete) A liberty to buy and sell within the bounds of a manor.
7. A portion of grain taken by a miller as a compensation for grinding.

verb

1. (transitive) To impose a fee for the use of.
   Once more it is proposed to toll the East River bridges.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To levy a toll on (someone or something).
3. (transitive) To take as a toll.
4. To pay a toll or tallage.

Etymology 2

Probably the same as Etymology 3. Possibly related to or influenced by toil

noun

1. The act or sound of tolling.

verb

1. (ergative) To ring (a bell) slowly and repeatedly.
   Martin tolled the great bell every day.
   Ask not for whom the bell tolls.
2. (transitive) To summon by ringing a bell.
   The ringer tolled the workers back from the fields for vespers.
   When hollow murmurs of their evening bells Dismiss the sleepy swains, and toll them to their cells.
3. (transitive) To announce by tolling.
   The bells tolled the King’s death.
4. (figurative) To make a sound as if made by a bell.

Etymology 3

From Middle English tolen, tollen, variation of tullen, tillen (“to draw, allure, entice”), from Old English *tyllan, *tillan (“to pull, draw, attract”) (found in compounds fortyllan (“to seduce, lead astray, draw away from the mark, deceive”) and betyllan, betillan (“to lure, decoy”)), related to Old Frisian tilla (“to lift, raise”), Dutch tillen (“to lift, raise, weigh, buy”), Low German tillen (“to lift, remove”), Swedish dialectal tille (“to take up, appropriate”).

verb

1. (transitive, obsolete) To draw; pull; tug; drag.
2. (transitive) To tear in pieces.
3. (transitive) To draw; entice; invite; allure.
   Hou many virgins shal she tolle and drawe to þe Lord - "Life of Our Lady"
4. (transitive) To lure with bait; tole (especially, fish and animals).

Etymology 4

From Latin tollō (“to lift up”).

verb

1. (law, obsolete) To take away; to vacate; to annul.
2. (law) To suspend.
   The statute of limitations defense was tolled as a result of the defendant’s wrongful conduct.

Etymology 5

verb

1. (African-American Vernacular) simple past and past participle of tell
   I done toll you for the last time.