tale

Meanings

Noun

• 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.
• A rehearsal of what has occurred; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story.
• A number told or counted off; a reckoning by count; an enumeration.
• The fraudulent opportunity presented by a confidence man to the mark or victim.
• Number; tally; quota.
• Account; estimation; regard; heed.
• Speech; language.
• A speech; a statement; talk; conversation; discourse.
• A count; declaration.
• A number of things considered as an aggregate; sum.
• A report of any matter; a relation; a version.
• Alternative of tael

Verb

• To speak; discourse; tell tales.
• To reckon; consider (someone) to have something.

Origin

• From Middle English tale, from Old English talu, from Proto-West Germanic *talu, from Proto-Germanic *talō, from Proto-Indo-European *del-. Cognate with West Frisian taal, Dutch taal, German Zahl, Danish tale, Icelandic tala, Latin dolus, Ancient Greek δόλος, Albanian ndjell, Northern Kurdish til, Old Armenian տող. Related to tell, talk.
• From Middle English talen, from Old English talian, from Proto-Germanic *talōną, from Proto-Indo-European *del-. Cognate with German zählen, Swedish tala, Icelandic tala.