tale
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
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”), Northern Kurdish til (“finger”), Old Armenian տող (toł, “row”). Related to tell, talk.
NounEdit
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 termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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Etymology 2Edit
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”).
VerbEdit
tale (third-person singular simple present tales, present participle taling, simple past and past participle taled)
- (dialectal or obsolete) To speak; discourse; tell tales.
- (dialectal, chiefly Scotland) To reckon; consider (someone) to have something.
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 3Edit
NounEdit
tale (plural tales)
- Alternative form of tael
AnagramsEdit
AfrikaansEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tale
DanishEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tale c (singular definite talen, plural indefinite taler)
InflectionEdit
VerbEdit
tale (imperative tal, infinitive at tale, present tense taler, past tense talte, perfect tense har talt)
InflectionEdit
FrenchEdit
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
tale
- inflection of taler:
AnagramsEdit
IdoEdit
PronunciationEdit
AdverbEdit
tale
ItalianEdit
EtymologyEdit
AdjectiveEdit
tale (masculine and feminine plural tali)
Related termsEdit
AnagramsEdit
LatinEdit
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
tāle
NounEdit
tāle
ReferencesEdit
- tale in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
LimburgishEdit
NounEdit
tale f
Middle DutchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Dutch *tala, from Proto-Germanic *talō.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tāle f
InflectionEdit
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
DescendantsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “tale (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “tale (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I
Northern KurdishEdit
NounEdit
tale ?
Norwegian BokmålEdit
EtymologyEdit
NounEdit
tale m (definite singular talen, indefinite plural taler, definite plural talene)
Derived termsEdit
VerbEdit
tale (imperative tal, present tense taler, passive tales, simple past talte, past participle talt, present participle talende)
Derived termsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “tale” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian NynorskEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
tale m (definite singular talen, indefinite plural talar, definite plural talane)
tale f (definite singular tala, indefinite plural taler, definite plural talene)
Derived termsEdit
VerbEdit
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 termsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “tale” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
RomanianEdit
PronunciationEdit
PronounEdit
tale
SpanishEdit
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
tale