tallar

Tallar is a Spanish verb meaning to carve, sculpt, engrave, or shape by cutting. It covers both artistic carving of materials such as wood, stone, or metal, and practical cutting and trimming to achieve a desired form. In crafts and industry, tallar can describe shaping processes that produce a specific design or dimension.

Conjugation and related forms: Tallar is a regular -ar verb. In the present indicative, forms are yo tallo, tú tallas, él/ella/Ud. talla, nosotros tallamos, vosotros talláis, ellos tallan. In the preterite it is tallé, tallaste, talló, tallamos, tallasteis, tallaron. The past participle is tallado, used in phrases like hallado or tallado to denote something that has been carved. The agent noun tallador refers to a carver or engraver, and tallado as an adjective describes something that bears carvings.

Etymology and cognates: Tallar has cognates in other Romance languages that convey cutting or shaping. Related terms include talhar in Portuguese and tailler in French, all reflecting a common lineage of carving or cutting actions across Latin-derived languages.

Usage context: The term is common in artistic contexts such as woodwork, sculpture, stone carving, metalwork, and jewelry, as well as in more utilitarian settings where materials are cut or formed to specification. It is distinct from verbs that describe other forms of modification, such as pelar (peel) or cortar (cut in a general sense).

Other uses: In some cases, tallar may appear as a surname or as part of geographic or cultural names in various language communities, though these usages are less common than the general verb sense.

See also: carving, sculpture, engraving, wood carving, stone carving.