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, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
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 .
Noun
tale (plural 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.
1886 , Peter Christen Asbjørnsen , translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales , page 214 :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.
2008 , BioWare , Mass Effect (Science Fiction ), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN , →OCLC , PC, scene: Citadel:Barla Von: What's this? One of the Earth-clan? Ah, a very famous one, yes? You are the one called Shepard. Barla Von: The tale of how you survived the great tragedy on Akuze is truly remarkable. I am amazed each time I hear it.
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 .
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 !
1918 , W B Maxwell , chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp , Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company , →OCLC :“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. ”
( 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.
1890 , James George Frazer, The Golden Bough , volume 1, page 237 :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.
( 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
type of story
Afrikaans: storie , verhaal (af) , vertelling (af)
Albanian: rrëfenjë (sq) , përrallë (sq) f , tregim (sq) m
Arabic: حِكَايَة f ( ḥikāya ) , قِصَّة f ( qiṣṣa )
Egyptian Arabic: حكاية f ( ḥikāya )
Armenian: հեքիաթ (hy) ( hekʻiatʻ ) , առակ (hy) ( aṙak ) , պատմություն (hy) ( patmutʻyun ) , ավանդություն (hy) ( avandutʻyun ) , լեգենդ (hy) ( legend ) , առասպել (hy) ( aṙaspel ) , բիլինա (hy) ( bilina )
Azerbaijani: hekayə (az)
Bashkir: хикәйә ( xikəyə )
Belarusian: апавяда́нне n ( apavjadánnje ) , гісто́рыя (be) f ( históryja ) , апо́весць f ( apóvjescʹ ) , апо́весьць f ( apóvjesʹcʹ )
Bulgarian: при́казка (bg) f ( príkazka ) , исто́рия (bg) f ( istórija ) , по́вест (bg) f ( póvest )
Catalan: conte (ca) m , faula (ca) f
Chinese:
Cantonese: 故事 ( gu3 si6 )
Hokkien: 故事 (zh-min-nan) ( kò͘-sū )
Mandarin: 故事 (zh) ( gùshi ) , 神話 / 神话 (zh) ( shénhuà )
Czech: příběh (cs) m , pohádka (cs) f
Danish: fabel c , fortælling (da) c , eventyr (da) n
Dutch: vertelsel (nl) n , verhaaltje (nl) n
Esperanto: rakonto (eo) , fabelo (eo) , fablo (eo)
Even: нимкан ( ņimkan )
Evenki: нимңакан
Finnish: tarina (fi) , satu (fi)
French: conte (fr) m
Georgian: მოთხრობა ( motxroba )
German: Märchen (de) n ( fairy tale ) , Sage (de) f , Geschichte (de) f , Erzählung (de) f
Gothic: 𐍃𐍀𐌹𐌻𐌻 n ( spill )
Greek: ιστορία (el) f ( istoría )
Ancient: μῦθος m ( mûthos )
Hebrew: מַעֲשִׂיָּה f ( ma'asiya )
Hindi: कहानी (hi) f ( kahānī ) , हिकायत (hi) f ( hikāyat ) , दास्तान (hi) f ( dāstān ) , क़िस्सा m ( qissā )
Hungarian: mese (hu) , történet (hu) , elbeszélés (hu)
Icelandic: saga (is) f
Ido: rakonto (io)
Indonesian: kisah (id) , hikayat (id)
Ingrian: jute
Irish: scéal (ga) m
Italian: racconto (it) m , favola (it) f , fiaba (it) f , storia (it) f , storiella (it) f
Japanese: 物語 (ja) ( ものがたり, monogatari ) , 説話 (ja) ( せつわ, setsuwa ) , コント (ja) ( konto )
Kazakh: хикая ( xikaä ) , әңгіме ( äñgıme ) , хикаят ( xikaät ) , ертек ( ertek )
Khmer: និទាន (km) ( nitiən ) , តំណាល (km) ( tɑmnaal )
Kongo: ngana
Korean: 이야기 (ko) ( iyagi )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: چیرۆک ( çîrok )
Kyrgyz: жомок (ky) ( jomok ) , аңгеме (ky) ( aŋgeme )
Lao: ນິທານ ( ni thān ) , ນິຍາຍ ( ni nyāi ) , ນິພົນ ( ni phon ) , ກະຖາ (lo) ( ka thā )
Latgalian: stuoškys m , puorsoka f ( fairy tale )
Latin: fābula (la) f , fābella f
Latvian: stāsts (lv) m , pasaka (lv) f ( fairy tale )
Lombard: cunt (lmo) m , stòria f , fàvola f
Macedonian: приказна (mk) f ( prikazna )
Malay: kisah (ms) , hikayat
Middle English: historie , storie
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: үлгэр (mn) ( ülger )
Nanai: нингман ( niŋman )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: historie (no) m or f , fortelling (no) m or f , eventyr (no) n
Occitan: conte (oc) m , fabla (oc) f
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: притъча f ( pritŭča ) , повѣсть f ( pověstĭ )
Glagolitic: ⱂⱃⰹⱅⱏⱍⰰ f ( pritŭča )
Old East Slavic: повѣсть f ( pověstĭ )
Ottoman Turkish: افسانه ( efsane ) , داستان ( dastan, destan ) , اسطوره ( ustura )
Pashto: حکايت (ps) m ( hekāyat ) , قصه (ps) f ( qesa ) , داستان (ps) m ( dāstān )
Persian:
Classical Persian: دَاسْتَان ( dāstān ) , قِصَّه ( qissa ) , حِکَایَت ( hikāyat )
Iranian Persian: داسْتان ( dâstân ) , قِصِّه ( ġesse ) , حِکایَت ( hekâyat ) , رِوایَت ( revâyat )
Polish: opowieść (pl) f
Portuguese: conto (pt) m , história (pt) f , fábula (pt) f
Romanian: poveste (ro) f
Russian: расска́з (ru) m ( rasskáz ) , исто́рия (ru) f ( istórija ) , ска́зка (ru) f ( skázka ) ( fairy tale ) , сказа́ние (ru) n ( skazánije ) , при́тча (ru) f ( prítča ) , ба́сня (ru) f ( básnja ) , были́на (ru) f ( bylína ) ( "bylina", Russian epic ) , ба́йка (ru) f ( bájka ) , по́весть (ru) f ( póvestʹ ) , са́га (ru) f ( sága )
Sanskrit: कथा (sa) f ( kathā )
Scottish Gaelic: sgeul m , sgeulachd f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: при̑ча f , при̏повије̄ст f , при̏повије̄тка f
Roman: prȋča (sh) f , prȉpovijēst (sh) f , prȉpovijētka (sh) f
Sicilian: cuntu (scn) m , storia (scn) f
Slovak: príbeh m , bájka (sk) f , rozprávka f
Slovene: zgodba f
Sotho: tshomo sg , ditshomo pl
Spanish: cuento (es) m , historia (es) f , conseja (es) f
Swedish: berättelse (sv) c , historia (sv) c , saga (sv) c ( fairy tale )
Tajik: достон (tg) ( doston ) , қисса (tg) ( qissa ) , ҳикоя ( hikoya ) , ривоят (tg) ( rivoyat )
Taos: łácianą , pìwcìayána
Tatar: әкият (tt) ( äkiyat )
Thai: นิทาน (th) ( ní-taan ) , อาขยาน (th) ( aa-kà-yaan ) , เรื่องราว (th) ( rʉ̂ʉang-raao )
Turkish: hikâye (tr)
Turkmen: erteki , hekaýa
Tày: tuyện , ca tuyện
Ugaritic: 𐎎𐎒𐎔𐎗 ( mspr ) , 𐎗𐎂𐎎 ( rgm )
Ukrainian: ро́зповідь f ( rózpovidʹ ) , істо́рія (uk) f ( istórija ) , по́вість (uk) f ( póvistʹ )
Urdu: کَہانی f ( kahānī ) , داسْتان f ( dāstān ) , قِصَّہ m ( qissa ) , حِکایَت (ur) f ( hikāyat ) , نَقْل f ( naql )
Uyghur: ھېكايە ( hëkaye ) , چۆچەك ( chöchek )
Uzbek: hikoya (uz) , ertak (uz) , choʻpchak (uz)
Vietnamese: chuyện (vi) , truyện (vi)
Welsh: chwedl (cy) f
Zazaki: sanık f , estanık , kehani , qısa
Zulu: inganekwane class 9 /10
Etymology 2
From Middle English talen , from Old English talian ( “ to count, calculate, reckon ” ) , from Proto-West Germanic *talōn , from Proto-Germanic *talōną ( “ to count ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *del- ( “ to count, reckon, aim, calculate, adjust ” ) .
Cognate with Dutch talen ( “ to long, care ” ) , German zahlen ( “ to pay ” ) , 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 .
See also
Anagrams
teal , tael , et. al , atel- , LATE , late , TEAl , Elta , TEAL , et al , Teal , tela , leat , EATL , ETLA , et al.
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
Noun
tale
plural of taal
Azerbaijani
Etymology
From Arabic طَالِع ( ṭāliʕ ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
tale (usually uncountable , definite accusative taleyi )
fate , destiny , lot
Synonyms: qismət , müqəddərat , qədər
Onların sonraki taleyi məlum deyil. ― Their subsequent fate is unknown.
fortune ( destiny, especially favorable )
Synonyms: bəxt , iqbal , nəsib
future destiny
Synonyms: gələcək , müqəddərat
Declension
Derived terms
Further reading
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
Conjugation
Further reading
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 / subjunctive
second-person singular imperative
Anagrams
Ido
Pronunciation
Adverb
tale
hence
Italian
Etymology
From Latin tālis .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈta.le/
Rhymes: -ale
Hyphenation: tà‧le
Determiner
tale m or f (plural tali )
such
Anagrams
Latin
Pronunciation
Adjective
tāle
nominative / accusative / vocative neuter singular of tālis
Noun
tāle
vocative singular of tālus
References
Limburgish
Noun
tale
plural of taal
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
Middle English
Etymology
From Old English talu , from Proto-West Germanic *talu .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈtaːl(ə)/ , /ˈtal(ə)/
Noun
tale (plural tales )
personal narrative , account
Descendants
References
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 (tala is split-infinitive and/or a-infinitive verb form )
Derived terms
References
“tale” in The Nynorsk Dictionary .
Old English
Pronunciation
Noun
tale
inflection of talu :
nominative plural
accusative singular / plural
genitive / dative singular
Portuguese
Verb
tale
inflection of talar :
first / third-person singular present subjunctive
third-person singular imperative
Romanian
Pronunciation
Pronoun
tale
feminine plural of tău
neuter plural of tău
Slovene
Pronoun
tale
( proximal demonstrative ) this , this one
Spanish
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈtale/
Rhymes: -ale
Syllabification: ta‧le
Verb
tale
inflection of talar :
first / third-person singular present subjunctive
third-person singular imperative
Ternate
Pronunciation
Verb
tale
to carry weight
Conjugation
References
Rika Hayami-Allen (2001 ) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia , University of Pittsburgh