tare

UK: /tɛə/ US: (târ)

Inflections of 'tare' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

tares

v 3rd person singular

taring

v pres p

tared

v past

tared

v past p

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

tare¹ (târ),  n. 

1. Plant Biology any of various vetches, esp. Vicia sativa.
2. Plant Biology the seed of a vetch.
3. Bible a noxious weed, probably the darnel.

• 1300–50; Middle English: vetch; akin to Dutch tarwe wheat

tare² (târ),  n., v., tared, tar•ing. 

n. 

1. Weights and Measures the weight of the wrapping, receptacle, or conveyance containing goods.
2. Weights and Measures a deduction from the gross weight to allow for this.
3. Weights and Measures the weight of a vehicle without cargo, passengers, etc.
4. Chemistry a counterweight used in chemical analysis to balance the weight of a container.
5. Telecommunications a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter T.

v.t. 

6. Weights and Measures to ascertain, note, or allow for the tare of.

• Middle French (equivalent. to Medieval Latin, Italian, Provencal, Spanish, Portuguese tara, Spanish atara) Arabic ṭarḥah what one throws away, derivative of ṭaraḥa to throw away
• 1480–90

tare³ (târ), v. [Archaic.]

1. pt. and pp. of tear ².

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

tare / tɛə/ noun

1. any of various vetch plants, such as Vicia hirsuta (hairy tare) of Eurasia and N Africa
2. the seed of any of these plants
3. a troublesome weed, thought to be the darnel

Etymology: 14th Century: of unknown origin

tare / tɛə/ noun

1. the weight of the wrapping or container in which goods are packed
2. a deduction from gross weight to compensate for this
3. the weight of a vehicle without its cargo, passengers, etc

verb

1. (transitive) to weigh (a package, etc) in order to calculate the amount of tare

Etymology: 15th Century: from Old French: waste, from Medieval Latin tara, from Arabic tarhah something discarded, from taraha to reject