tassel

Meanings

1. A ball-shaped bunch of plaited or otherwise entangled threads from which at one end protrudes a cord on which the ball is hung, and which may have loose, dangling threads at the other end (often used as decoration along the bottom of garments, curtains or other hangings).
2. The panicle on a male plant of maize, which consists of loose threads with anthers on them.
3. The loose hairs at the end of a braid.
4. A narrow silk ribbon, or similar, sewn to a book to be put between the pages.
5. A piece of board that is laid upon a wall as a sort of plate, to give a level surface to the ends of floor timbers.
6. A kind of bur used in dressing cloth; a teasel.
7. A thin plate of gold on the back of a bishop's gloves.

1. To adorn with tassels.
2. To put forth a tassel or flower.

1. Alternative form of tassell.

Etymology

From Middle English tassel, from Old French tassel, from Latin tāxillus (“small cube”), from tālus (“ankle”).