tale
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English tale, from Old English talu (“tale, series, calculation, list, statement, deposition, relation, communication, narrative, fable, story, accusation, action at law”), from Proto-Germanic *talō (“calculation, number”), from Proto-Indo-European *del- (“to reckon, count”). Cognate with West Frisian taal (“speech, language”), Dutch taal (“language, speech”), German Zahl (“number, figure”), Danish tale (“speech”), Icelandic tala (“speech, talk, discourse, number, figure”), Latin dolus (“guile, deceit, fraud”), Ancient Greek δόλος (dólos, “wile, bait”), Albanian dalloj (“to distinguish, tell”), Kurdish, Old Armenian տող (toł, “row”). Related to tell, talk.
Noun
tale (plural tales)
- An account of an asserted fact or circumstance; a rumour; a report, especially an idle or malicious story; a piece of gossip or slander; a lie.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- “A very welcome, kind, useful present, that means to the parish. By the way, Hopkins, let this go no further. We don't want the tale running round that a rich person has arrived. Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. […]”
- Don't tell tales!
- A rehearsal of what has occurred; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story.
- the Canterbury Tales
- 1631, John Milton, "L'Allegro":
- And every shepherd tells his tale
- Under the hawthorn in the dale.
- A number told or counted off; a reckoning by count; an enumeration.
- 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, Book I, Preface, §4:
- the ignorant, […] who measure by tale, and not by weight
- 1602, Richard Carew, Survey of Cornwall
- In packing, they keep a just tale of the number that every hogshead containeth ...
- 1843 Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. 5, Twelfth Century
- They proceeded with some rigour, these Custodiars; took written inventories, clapt-on seals, exacted everywhere strict tale and measure
- 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, Book I, Preface, §4:
- (slang) The fraudulent opportunity presented by a confidence man to the mark or victim.
- (obsolete) Number; tally; quota.
- 1611, King James Version, Exodus 5:8:
- And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
- 1697, John Dryden, The Works of Virgil, Pastoral III:
- Both number twice a day the milky dams
- And once she takes the tale of all the lambs.
- 1611, King James Version, Exodus 5:8:
- (obsolete) Account; estimation; regard; heed.
- (obsolete) Speech; language.
- (obsolete) A speech; a statement; talk; conversation; discourse.
- (law, obsolete) A count; declaration.
- (rare or archaic) A number of things considered as an aggregate; sum.
- (rare or archaic) A report of any matter; a relation; a version.
- 1605, Francis Bacon, Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Human, Volume I, Chapter IX:
- […] birds […] are aptest by their voice to tell tales what they find; and likewise by the motion of their flight to express the same.
- 1605, Francis Bacon, Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Human, Volume I, Chapter IX:
Derived terms
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Middle English talen, from Old English talian (“to count, calculate, reckon, account, consider, think, esteem, value, argue, tell, relate, impute, assign”), from Proto-Germanic *talōną (“to count”), from Proto-Indo-European *del- (“to count, reckon, aim, calculate, adjust”). Cognate with German zählen (“to count, number, reckon”), Swedish tala (“to speak, talk”), Icelandic tala (“to talk”).
Verb
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- (dialectal or obsolete) To speak; discourse; tell tales.
- (dialectal, chiefly Scotland) To reckon; consider (someone) to have something.
Derived terms
Etymology 3
Noun
tale (plural tales)
- Alternative form of tael
Anagrams
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
Noun
tale
Danish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
tale c (singular definite talen, plural indefinite taler)
Inflection
Verb
tale (imperative tal, infinitive at tale, present tense taler, past tense talte, perfect tense har talt)
French
Pronunciation
Verb
tale
- inflection of taler:
Anagrams
Ido
Pronunciation
Adverb
tale
Italian
Etymology
Adjective
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Related terms
Anagrams
Kurdish
Noun
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈtaː.le/, [ˈt̪äːɫ̪ɛ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈta.le/, [ˈt̪äːle]
Adjective
(deprecated template usage) tāle
Noun
(deprecated template usage) tāle
References
- tale in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
Limburgish
Noun
tale f
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch *tala, from Proto-Germanic *talō.
Pronunciation
Noun
tāle f
Inflection
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
Descendants
Further reading
- “tale (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “tale (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
Noun
tale m (definite singular talen, indefinite plural taler, definite plural talene)
Derived terms
Verb
tale (imperative tal, present tense taler, passive tales, simple past talte, past participle talt, present participle talende)
Derived terms
References
- “tale” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
tale m (definite singular talen, indefinite plural talar, definite plural talane)
tale f (definite singular tala, indefinite plural taler, definite plural talene)
Derived terms
Verb
tale (present tense talar or taler, past tense tala or talte, past participle tala or talt, passive infinitive talast, present participle talande, imperative tal)
- alternative form of tala
Derived terms
References
- “tale” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Romanian
Pronunciation
Pronoun
tale
Spanish
Pronunciation
Verb
tale
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