Wiktionary

tale

See also: Tale, talé, täle, tåle, and talɛ

English edit

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

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-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.

Noun edit

tale (plural tales)

  1. 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.
    • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 214:
      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.
    • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:
      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.
  2. 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
  3. (slang) The fraudulent opportunity presented by a confidence man to the mark or victim.
  4. 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.
    Don't tell tales!
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      “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. […]”
  5. (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.
    • 1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 1, page 237:
      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.
  6. (obsolete) Account; estimation; regard; heed.
  7. (obsolete) Speech; language.
  8. (obsolete) A speech; a statement; talk; conversation; discourse.
  9. (law, obsolete) A count; declaration.
  10. (rare or archaic) A number of things considered as an aggregate; sum.
  11. (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.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
type of story

Etymology 2 edit

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 edit

tale (third-person singular simple present tales, present participle taling, simple past and past participle taled)

  1. (dialectal or obsolete) To speak; discourse; tell tales.
  2. (dialectal, chiefly Scotland) To reckon; consider (someone) to have something.
Derived terms edit

Etymology 3 edit

Noun edit

tale (plural tales)

  1. Alternative form of tael

See also edit

Anagrams edit

Afrikaans edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

tale

  1. plural of taal

Azerbaijani edit

Etymology edit

From Arabic طَالِع (ṭāliʕ).

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): [tɑːˈle(h)]
  • Hyphenation: ta‧le
  • Audio(file)

Noun edit

tale (usually uncountable, definite accusative taleyi)

  1. fate, destiny, lot
    Synonyms: qismət, müqəddərat, qədər
    Onların sonraki taleyi məlum deyil. ― Their subsequent fate is unknown.
  2. fortune (destiny, especially favorable)
    Synonyms: bəxt, iqbal, nəsib
  3. future destiny
    Synonyms: gələcək, müqəddərat

Declension edit

    Declension of tale
singular plural
nominative tale
 talelər
definite accusative taleyi
 taleləri
dative taleyə
 talelərə
locative taledə
 talelərdə
ablative taledən
 talelərdən
definite genitive taleyin
 talelərin
    Possessive forms of tale
nominative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) taleyim talelərim
sənin (“your”) taleyin talelərin
onun (“his/her/its”) taleyi taleləri
bizim (“our”) taleyimiz talelərimiz
sizin (“your”) taleyiniz taleləriniz
onların (“their”) taleyi or taleləri taleləri
accusative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) taleyimi talelərimi
sənin (“your”) taleyini talelərini
onun (“his/her/its”) taleyini talelərini
bizim (“our”) taleyimizi talelərimizi
sizin (“your”) taleyinizi talelərinizi
onların (“their”) taleyini or talelərini talelərini
dative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) taleyimə talelərimə
sənin (“your”) taleyinə talelərinə
onun (“his/her/its”) taleyinə talelərinə
bizim (“our”) taleyimizə talelərimizə
sizin (“your”) taleyinizə talelərinizə
onların (“their”) taleyinə or talelərinə talelərinə
locative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) taleyimdə talelərimdə
sənin (“your”) taleyində talelərində
onun (“his/her/its”) taleyində talelərində
bizim (“our”) taleyimizdə talelərimizdə
sizin (“your”) taleyinizdə talelərinizdə
onların (“their”) taleyində or talelərində talelərində
ablative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) taleyimdən talelərimdən
sənin (“your”) taleyindən talelərindən
onun (“his/her/its”) taleyindən talelərindən
bizim (“our”) taleyimizdən talelərimizdən
sizin (“your”) taleyinizdən talelərinizdən
onların (“their”) taleyindən or talelərindən talelərindən
genitive
singular plural
mənim (“my”) taleyimin talelərimin
sənin (“your”) taleyinin talelərinin
onun (“his/her/its”) taleyinin talelərinin
bizim (“our”) taleyimizin talelərimizin
sizin (“your”) taleyinizin talelərinizin
onların (“their”) taleyinin or talelərinin talelərinin

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

  • “tale” in Obastan.com.

Danish edit

Etymology edit

From Old Norse tala.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

tale c (singular definite talen, plural indefinite taler)

  1. speech, talk, address, discourse

Inflection edit

Declension of tale
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative tale talen taler talerne
genitive tales talens talers talernes

Verb edit

tale (imperative tal, infinitive at tale, present tense taler, past tense talte, perfect tense har talt)

  1. to make a speech
  2. to speak, talk

Conjugation edit

Inflection of tale
present past
simple taler talte
perfect har talt havde talt
passive tales taltes
participle talende talt
imperative tal —
infinitive tale —
auxiliary verb have —
gerund talen —

Further reading edit

Dutch edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈtaː.lə/
  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: ta‧le

Noun edit

tale f (plural talen, diminutive taaltje n)

  1. Obsolete form of taal.

French edit

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

tale

  1. inflection of taler:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams edit

Ido edit

Pronunciation edit

Adverb edit

tale

  1. hence

Italian edit

Etymology edit

From Latin tālis.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈta.le/
  • Rhymes: -ale
  • Hyphenation: tà‧le

Determiner edit

tale (plural tali)

  1. such

Related terms edit

Anagrams edit

Latin edit

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

tāle

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of tālis

Noun edit

tāle

  1. vocative singular of tālus

References edit

Limburgish edit

Noun edit

tale

  1. plural of taal

Middle Dutch edit

Etymology edit

From Old Dutch *tala, from Proto-West Germanic *talu, from Proto-Germanic *talō.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

tāle f

  1. spoken or written words, that which someone says
  2. language

Inflection edit

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants edit

  • Dutch: taal
  • West Flemish: toale

Further reading edit

Middle English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Old English talu, from Proto-West Germanic *talu.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈtaːl(ə)/, /ˈtal(ə)/

Noun edit

tale (plural tales)

  1. personal narrative, account

Related terms edit

Descendants edit

References edit

Northern Kurdish edit

Noun edit

tale ?

  1. happiness

Norwegian Bokmål edit

Etymology edit

From Old Norse tala.

Noun edit

tale m (definite singular talen, indefinite plural taler, definite plural talene)

  1. speech, talk, address, discourse

Derived terms edit

Verb edit

tale (imperative tal, present tense taler, passive tales, simple past talte, past participle talt, present participle talende)

  1. to make a speech
  2. to speak, talk

Derived terms edit

References edit

Norwegian Nynorsk edit

Etymology edit

From Old Norse tala.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

tale m (definite singular talen, indefinite plural talar, definite plural talane)
tale f (definite singular tala, indefinite plural taler, definite plural talene)

  1. speech
  2. a speech, talk, discourse, an address

Derived terms edit

Verb edit

tale (present tense talar or taler, past tense tala or talte, past participle tala or talt, passive infinitive talast, present participle talande, imperative tal)

  1. alternative form of tala (tala is split-infinitive and/or a-infinitive verb form)

Derived terms edit

References edit

Portuguese edit

Verb edit

tale

  1. inflection of talar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Romanian edit

Pronunciation edit

Pronoun edit

tale

  1. feminine plural of tău
    Fiicele tale îmi spuneau despre casa voastră nouă.
    Your daughters were telling me about your new house.
  2. neuter plural of tău

Spanish edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈtale/ [ˈt̪a.le]
  • Rhymes: -ale
  • Syllabification: ta‧le

Verb edit

tale

  1. inflection of talar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Ternate edit

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

tale

  1. to carry weight

Conjugation edit

Conjugation of tale
Singular Plural
Inclusive Exclusive
1st totale fotale mitale
2nd notale nitale
3rd Masculine otale itale, yotale†
Feminine motale
Neuter itale
† - archaic

References edit

  • Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh
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