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tale

noun
/ˈteːl/

Etymology

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.

  1. derived from *del-✻ — “to reckon, count”
  2. inherited from *talō✻ — “calculation, number”
  3. inherited from *talu✻
  4. inherited from talu — “tale, series, calculation”
  5. inherited from tale

Definitions

  1. A rehearsal of what has occurred

    A rehearsal of what has occurred; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story.

    • the Canterbury Tales
    • And every shepherd tells his tale Under the hawthorn in the dale.
    • 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.

  2. A number told or counted off

    A number told or counted off; a reckoning by count; an enumeration.

    • the ignorant, […] who measure by tale, and not by weight
    • In packing, they keep a just tale of the number that every hogshead containeth ...
    • They proceeded with some rigour, these Custodiars; took written inventories, clapt-on seals, exacted everywhere strict tale and measure

  3. The fraudulent opportunity presented by a confidence man to the mark or victim.

  4. ›+ 11 more definitions

    1. An account of an asserted fact or circumstance

      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!

    2. Number

      Number; tally; quota.

      • 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.
      • Both number twice a day the milky dams And once she takes the tale of all the lambs.
      • 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.

    3. Account

      Account; estimation; regard; heed.

    4. Speech

      Speech; language.

    5. A speech

      A speech; a statement; talk; conversation; discourse.

    6. A count

      A count; declaration.

    7. A number of things considered as an aggregate

      A number of things considered as an aggregate; sum.

    8. A report of any matter

      A report of any matter; a relation; a version.

      • […] birds […] are aptest by their voice to tell tales what they find; and likewise by the motion of their flight to express the same.

    9. To speak

      To speak; discourse; tell tales.

    10. To reckon

      To reckon; consider (someone) to have something.

    11. Alternative form of tael.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at tale. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01tale02victim03religious04committed05course06mast07tall

A definitional loop anchored at tale. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at tale

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA