tale
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: law
Etymology: From Middle English tale, from Old English talu (“tale, series, calculation”), from Proto-West Germanic *talu, 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 ndjell (“to lure”), Northern Kurdish til (“finger”), Old Armenian տող (toł, “row”). Related to tell, talk.
Inflected forms:
form: tales
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: A rehearsal of what has occurred; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story.
pos: noun
examples: the Canterbury Tales
And every shepherd tells his tale
Under the hawthorn in the dale.
But can you guess what there was in the box? Why, it was a calf's tail, and if the calf's tail had been longer this tale would have been longer too.
Barla Von: What's this? One of the Earth-clan? Ah, a very famous one, yes? You are the one called Shepard.
Barla Von: The tale of how you survived the great tragedy on Akuze is truly remarkable. I am amazed each time I hear it.
gloss: A number told or counted off; a reckoning by count; an enumeration.
pos: noun
examples: the ignorant, […] who measure by tale, and not by weight
In packing, they keep a just tale of the number that every hogshead containeth ...
They proceeded with some rigour, these Custodiars; took written inventories, clapt-on seals, exacted everywhere strict tale and measure
gloss: The fraudulent opportunity presented by a confidence man to the mark or victim.
pos: noun
tags: slang
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
examples: Don't tell tales!
“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.[…]”
gloss: Number; tally; quota.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
examples: 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.
Both number twice a day the milky dams
And once she takes the tale of all the lambs.
To appease the angry god, two hundred children of the noblest families were picked out for sacrifice, and the tale of victims was swelled by not less than three hundred more who volunteered to die for the fatherland.
gloss: Account; estimation; regard; heed.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
gloss: Speech; language.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
gloss: A speech; a statement; talk; conversation; discourse.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
gloss: A count; declaration.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
gloss: A number of things considered as an aggregate; sum.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
rare
gloss: A report of any matter; a relation; a version.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
rare
examples: […] birds […] are aptest by their voice to tell tales what they find; and likewise by the motion of their flight to express the same.
Derived words: aftertale
Banbury tale
betall
blab-tale
blabtale
carrytale
cautionary tale
dead men tell no tales
fairy-tale
fairy-tale ending
fairy tale
fairytale
fish tale
folk tale
folktale
foretale
frame tale
live to tell the tale
midtale
Milesian tale
morality tale
old wives' tale
shaggy-dog tale
shaggy dog tale
spin a tale
taleable
tale bearer
tale-bearer
talebearer
talebearing
talebook
talecarrier
taleful
taleless
talelike
talemonger
tale of the tape
tale of woe
talesman
tale-teller
taleteller
taletelling
tall tale
tattletale
tell its own tale
telltale
tell tale
tell-tale
telltale compass
tell tales
tell tales out of school
tell-tale-tit
tenmantale
thereby hangs a tale
traveller's tale
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