Part 488

TARAUDER, Fr. To make a hole like that which is effected by the operation of the Tarau.

TARE, Fr. A word adopted by the French from the English term Tar.

TAREAU, Fr. A screw-tap.

TARGE, Fr. See TARGET. It is generally pronounced Targue, from whence is derived the figurative expression Se targuer, to plume one’s-self, or to be self-sufficient. Le poltron se targue du courage de son père--The coward plumes himself upon the courage which his father possessed.

TARGET, a sort of shield, being originally made of leather, wrought out of the back of an ox’s hide.

TARGET, is also a mark for the artillery, &c. to fire at in their practice.

TARIERE, Fr. Auger, wimble, gimlet. The French make a distinction with respect to the gender of this word. When they express a large sized auger or wimble, they say, Un gros Tarière, making it masculine, and when they mean a small sized one, they say, Une petite tarière, making it feminine.

TARIERE, Fr. Likewise signifies a miner’s tool with which he bores into the earth. It is used to force a lighted match into the chamber of a countermine, and to make it explode.

TARPAULINGS, are made of strong canvas, thoroughly tarred and cut into different sizes, according to their several uses in the field; such as to cover the powder-waggons and tumbrels (carrying ammunition) from rain: each field-piece has likewise one to secure the ammunition-boxes.

To be TARRED. A cant word used among soldiers to signify the punishment which privates undergo among themselves, when they have been tried and sentenced by their own comrades.

TARTARES, Fr. A word used in the French army to distinguish officers’ servants and batmen from the soldiers that serve in the ranks. Tartare likewise means a groom.

TARTARS, (Tartares, Fr.) Asiatics, whose principal arms are the bow and arrow, and sabre or pike. Some few have firelocks and pistols.

Calmuc TARTARS. A free people inhabiting the borders of the Caspian Sea, and the banks of the river Wolga. They are under the immediate protection of Russia, and in consideration of the security they enjoy, they are obliged to serve when called upon. They consist of wandering hordes, live in tents, and are armed with bows and arrows. Some have rifle guns, with one or two pistols. But they are extremely cruel, and worse disciplined than the Cossacks.

TARTES, Fr. Bogs.

TAS, Fr. A heap. When the works of a fortification are lined with turf and fascines, &c. small beds of earth are previously prepared and laid one over another, till the necessary thickness is obtained; when completed it is called Tas de gazon ou de placage. A heap of turf or a placage, which see. Tas is likewise used in a sense of contempt to signify a croud--Un tas de fainéans. A heap or croud of parasites.

Un TAS de mensonges. A heap of lies.

TASA, Ind. A kind of drum, formed from a semisphere of copper, hollowed out and covered with goat skin. It is hung before from the shoulders, and beat with two rattans.

TAS de charge, Fr. An arch made in a particular manner. It is generally found in Gothic buildings.

TASSEAU, Fr. A small anvil. It likewise signifies a bracket.

TASSES. Armor for the thighs, so called.

TASSETTE, Fr. A tass in armor.

TATTEE, Ind. A bamboo frame; which encloses an herb called jawassea or kuskus. Frames of this sort are made to put to the different openings of a room; they are shaped like a sash, and one being laid on a floor and covered with the kuskus grass, the other is laid upon it, and the two are tied together at the angles, which correspond with the panes; by throwing water against them, the hottest wind in passing through becomes cool, and the air is made fragrant by the kuskus.

TAUGOUR, Fr. A small lever which is used for various purposes.

TAUPINS, Francs-Taupins, Fr. A name which was formerly given to a body of free-archers, or Francs-archers, in France. This body consisting chiefly of countrymen and rustics, they were probably so called from taupe, a mole; of which there are great quantities in the fields. Taupin likewise signifies swarthy.

TAX. A tribute or duty rated on land, &c.

TE, Fr. A term used among miners to express a figure which greatly resembles the letter T, and which consists of a certain arrangement and disposition of the furnaces, chambers, or lodgments that are made under any particular part of a fortification, in order to blow it up. The Té has four lodgments; the double Té has eight; and the triple Té has twelve.

TECHNICAL, (Technique, Fr.) All terms, or words which have been invented for the purpose of expressing particular arts, are called technical.

Mots TECHNIQUES, Fr. Technical words.