tale

American  

[teyl] / teɪl /

noun

• tales
  plural

1. a narrative that relates the details of some real or imaginary event, incident, or case; story.

   a tale about Lincoln's dog.

2. a literary composition having the form of such a narrative.

3. a falsehood; lie.

4. a rumor or piece of gossip, often malicious or untrue.

5. the full number or amount.

6. Archaic. enumeration; count.

7. Obsolete. talk; discourse.

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tale British  

/ teɪl /

noun

1. a report, narrative, or story

2. one of a group of short stories connected by an overall narrative framework

3. 1. a malicious or meddlesome rumour or piece of gossip

      to bear tales against someone

   2. ( in combination )

      talebearer

      taleteller

4. a fictitious or false statement

5. 1. to tell fanciful lies

   2. to report malicious stories, trivial complaints, etc, esp to someone in authority

6. to reveal something important

7. to be self-evident

8. archaic

   1. a number; amount

   2. computation or enumeration

9. an obsolete word for talk

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tale Idioms  

1. see old wives' tale; tall tale; tell tales; thereby hangs a tale.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tales
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tale

before 900; Middle English; Old English talu series, list, narrative, story; cognate with Dutch taal speech, language, German Zahl number, Old Norse tala number, speech. See tell ¹

Explanation

A tale is a story, especially one that's full of creative embellishments. You can read a tale from a book, or tell a bedtime tale to the kids you're babysitting. Tales can be true or fictional, but they generally consist of a narrative, with a beginning and an end, made more interesting and exciting with vivid details. Some tales are meant to teach specific lessons (like your family's history or your community's values), while others simply relay a funny story. Tale can also mean "lie," like when your mom asks, "You're not telling a tale, are you?"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tale tales

The woylie, or brush-tailed bettong, is a cautionary tale.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

Muriel Spark took a break from writing novels to dream up a whimsical tale of a clever timepiece.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

In an essay for The Envelope, Hines explains how he refined his ‘obsession’ with the tale of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette into a pitch that the mega-producer would love.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Bothwell, the astronomer, also said the collision would provide a cautionary tale about the issue of ever-accumulating, human-made space clutter.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

She loved that part of the Cinderella tale.

From "The Cinderella Ballet Mystery: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #4" by Carolyn Keene

He called on him to quit and injected further tales of alleged cruelty into the discussion.

From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026

Until Euro 2016, Wales' story had been dominated by tales of heartache, Joe Jordan's handball in 1977 and the Romania defeat of 1993 among many painful chapters.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Miyazaki’s tales also tend to immerse us in supernatural domains existing parallel to our own, as if reality masks more ethereal, life-affirming realms.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

Unlike in most mythological tales, the white Corinthian columns have been swapped out for brutal stone architecture.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

Thus the tale ends as so many tales do, happily for some and miserably for others.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

• account
• anecdote
• fable
• fiction
• legend
• myth
• narrative
• novel
• short story
• yarn