Zoll

See also: zoll

German

Etymology 1

From Middle High German and Old High German zol, from Proto-Germanic *tullō (“what is counted or told”), for which see Proto-West Germanic *tolnu (“toll”) for more. Cognate with English toll.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tsɔl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Zoll m (strong, genitive Zolles or Zolls, plural Zölle)

1. custom (duty collected at the borders)
2. customs (authority collecting that duty)

Declension

Declension of Zoll [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Zoll	die	Zölle
genitive	eines	des	Zolles, Zolls	der	Zölle
dative	einem	dem	Zoll, Zolle1	den	Zöllen
accusative	einen	den	Zoll	die	Zölle

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• zollpflichtig

Etymology 2

From Middle High German zol (“plug, block, peg”), from Old High German zollo (“spinning top”); possibly as the length of a finger, perhaps from the sense "cut-off piece", in which case it could be related to Zahl (“number”) or Zelge (“tillable land”); documented since the 11th century, in its current sense "measure of length" since the 16th century.

Noun

Zoll m (strong, genitive Zolls, plural Zoll)

1. inch (unit of length equal to 2.54 centimeters)
2. (historical) any of a number of historical German units of length generally ranging between about 2 and 3 centimeters

Declension

Declension of Zoll [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Zoll	die	Zoll
genitive	eines	des	Zolls	der	Zoll
dative	einem	dem	Zoll	den	Zoll
accusative	einen	den	Zoll	die	Zoll

Descendants

• → Kashubian: côl
• → Polish: cal
• → Romanian: țol

Further reading

• “Zoll” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Zoll” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Middle High German and Old High German zol, from Medieval Latin toloneum, from Late Latin teloneum (“custom house”).

Cognate with German Zoll, English toll, Dutch tol, Icelandic tollur, Swedish tull.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tsol/
  • Rhymes: -ol

Noun

Zoll m (plural Zoll)

1. custom, duty
2. customs