Definitions and meaning of tale
tale
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈteɪl/
-
- Rhymes: -eɪl
- Homophone: tail
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-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 dalloj (“to distinguish, tell”), Northern Kurdish til (“finger”), 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.
- A rehearsal of what has occurred; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story.
- 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
- (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.
- (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.
Derived terms
Translations
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
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 terms
Etymology 3
Noun
tale (plural tales)
- Alternative form of tael
Anagrams
- EATL, ETLA, Elta, LATE, TEAL, TEAl, Teal, et al, et al., late, leat, tael, teal, tela
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
Noun
tale
- plural of taal
Danish
Etymology
From Old Norse tala
Pronunciation
Noun
tale c (singular definite talen, plural indefinite taler)
- speech, talk, address, discourse
Inflection
Verb
tale (imperative tal, infinitive at tale, present tense taler, past tense talte, perfect tense har talt)
- to make a speech
- to speak, talk
Inflection
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtaː.lə/
- Hyphenation: ta‧le
Noun
tale f (plural talen, diminutive taaltje n)
- Obsolete form of taal.
French
Pronunciation
Verb
tale
- inflection of taler:
- first/third-person singular present indicative
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- second-person singular imperative
Anagrams
Ido
Pronunciation
Adverb
tale
- hence
Italian
Etymology
From Latin tālis.
Adjective
tale (masculine and feminine plural tali)
- such
Related terms
Anagrams
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈtaː.le/, [ˈt̪äːɫ̪ɛ]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈta.le/, [ˈt̪ɑːlɛ]
Adjective
tāle
- nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of tālis
Noun
tāle
- vocative singular of tālus
References
- tale in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
Limburgish
Noun
tale f
- languages
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch *tala, from Proto-West Germanic *talu, from Proto-Germanic *talō.
Pronunciation
Noun
tāle f
- spoken or written words, that which someone says
- language
Inflection
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
Descendants
Further reading
- “tale (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek[1], 2000
- Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J., “tale (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek[2], The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1885–1929, →ISBN, page I
Northern Kurdish
Noun
tale ?
- happiness
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Old Norse tala.
Noun
tale m (definite singular talen, indefinite plural taler, definite plural talene)
- speech, talk, address, discourse
Derived terms
Verb
tale (imperative tal, present tense taler, passive tales, simple past talte, past participle talt, present participle talende)
- to make a speech
- to speak, talk
Derived terms
References
- “tale” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Old Norse tala
Pronunciation
Noun
tale m (definite singular talen, indefinite plural talar, definite plural talane)
tale f (definite singular tala, indefinite plural taler, definite plural talene)
- speech
- a speech, talk, discourse, an address
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
- feminine plural of tău
- neuter plural of tău
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtale/, [ˈt̪a.le]
Verb
tale
- Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of talar.
- First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of talar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of talar.
- Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of talar.
Source: wiktionary.org- TALCUM, to treat with a powder made from talc.
(source: Collins Scrabble Dictionary)