tahalí

Borrowed from Arabic تَهْلِيل (tahlīl), whose original meaning of 'cheer' or 'praise' was applied first to the wooden boxes that Muslims used to carry their mushafs in and, then, to the straps used to cinch such boxes to their torsos.

• IPA^(key): /taaˈli/ [t̪a.aˈli]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: ta‧ha‧lí

tahalí m (plural tahalíes or tahalís)

1. belt or sheath for a sword

   Synonyms: tiracuello, charpa

   • 1993, Amparo García Cuadrado, Las Cantigas: El códice de Florencia, page 302:

     El cinturón, tahalí y vaina forman parte de un amplio, complejo y especializado conjunto de elementos fabricados en cuero generalmente grueso y rígido y que genéricamente se van a agrupar bajo el nombre de guarniciones.

     The belt, swordbelt and sheath make up a broad, complex and specialized set of elements made of generally thick, rigid leather, and they are generically grouped under the name "gear".

   • 2010, Benito Pérez Galdós, “Bailén”, in Episodios nacionales, volume I, page 65:

     Acercose a él la señora condesa, y abriéndolo, sacó una espada larguísima con su vaina y tahalí, las tres piezas muy marcadas con el sello de honrosa antigüedad.

     The Lady Countess approached him, and, opening it, took out a very long sword with its sheath and swordbelt, the three pieces very marked with the seal of honorable antiquity.

2. (historical) reliquary; small case (for soldiers to carry a mushaf)
   • 2014, Marceliano Galiano, El aroma del arrayán:

     Junto a mí, un soldado veterano de barba entrecana sacó el Corán de un precioso tahalí de cuero repujado y, a la luz de una fogata, comenzó a leer.

     Next to me, a veteran soldier with a graying beard took the Quran from a lovely reliquary of embossed leather, and, by the light of a campfire, started to read.

• “tahalí”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024