Added 4 October 2026
tell
/tɛl/ verb
In Latin: narrō, memoro Wiktionary
verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about tell at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
Mental senses related to determining, reckoning, or perceiving To determine the number, amount, or value of [something].
All told, there were over a dozen. Can you tell time on a clock? He had untold wealth.
-
To determine the number, amount, or value of [something].
All told, there were over a dozen. Can you tell time on a clock? He had untold wealth.
-
To notice, discern. (Roughly, "can tell" means "know" but with a sense of direct perception.)
I can tell that you're thrilled.
noun
- A reflexive, often habitual behavior, especially one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold.
- A giveaway; something that unintentionally reveals or hints at a secret.
- That which is told; a tale or account.
noun
- A hill or mound, originally and especially in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.
Origin
From Middle English tellen (“to count, tell”), from Old English tellan (“to count, tell”), from Proto-West Germanic *talljan, from Proto-Germanic *taljaną, *talzijaną (“to count, enumerate”), from Proto-Germanic *talą, *talō (“number, counting”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol- (“calculation, fraud”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian tälle (“to say; tell”), West Frisian telle (“to count”), West Frisian fertelle (“to tell, narrate”), Dutch tellen (“to count”) and Dutch vertellen (“to tell”), Low German tellen (“to count”), German zählen, Faroese telja, Swedish tala (“to speak”). More at tale.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)