In order to talk about ‘tall’ buildings and more particularly ‘tall, timber’ buildings, it is useful to clarify what is meant by a ‘tall’ and a ‘tall, timber’ building. This clarification facilitates both productive discussion of the subject and secures the basis on which meaningful comparisons can be made between buildings using different structural systems and materials. The historic duopoly of steel and concrete as the structural materials of tall building construction is in the process of being broken by the introduction of engineered timber and it is appropriate that this change is reflected in the language of tall building design. The approach adopted in this paper has three parts. Existing definitions and terminology for ‘tall’ buildings are explored. A study is made of the structural systems and materials of existing buildings that use structural timber and have some claim to ‘tallness’. A proposal is made for the clarification and expansion of existing criteria for tall building terminology and definitions to accommodate the use of structural timber in tall building.