English
tallboy
By surface analysis, tall + boy, but the furniture sense may have been originally modeled after lowboy, related to French bois (“wood”).
Proto-Indo-European *del- ‘to count, reckon’
Proto-Germanic *talaz ‘submissive’
Old English *tæl ‘swift, ready’
Middle English tall ‘seemly, handsome; bold; big’
English tall
Proto-Indo-European *bʰā-
…
Proto-Germanic *bōjô ‘younger brother’
Proto-West Germanic *bōjō
Old English *bōia ‘boy’
Middle English boye ‘servant, commoner, knave, boy’
English boy
The story
By surface analysis, tall + boy, but the furniture sense may have been originally modeled after lowboy, related to French bois (‘wood’).
Today it means
noun A tall chest of drawers, or combination of chest on chest, or chest with a small wardrobe on top. Usually with low bracket feet but always resulting in a tall piece of furniture.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / tallboy