Etymology

From verb tāst, an archaic and dialectal variant of test, tēst ‎(“to cut, to hew, to trim”); the form follows the pattern of lest, lēst, lāse (compare dialectal forms tāsis, tāse; compare also other dialectal variants above). A comparable synonym term exists in Balto-Finnic languages (e.g., Finnish tuohi) which suggests borrowing between Baltic and Balto-Finnic, but the direction of the borrowing is not clear. Cognates include Lithuanian tóšis.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tāːss]