Added 28 September 2026
tale
/ˈteɪl/ noun
In Latin: fābula, fābella Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about tale at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
A rehearsal of what has occurred; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story.
the Canterbury Tales
- 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.
verb
noun
- Alternative form of tael.
Origin
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)