tale

[ teyl ]

/ teɪl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tale ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a narrative that relates the details of some real or imaginary event, incident, or case; story: a tale about Lincoln's dog.

a literary composition having the form of such a narrative.

a falsehood; lie.

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

the full number or amount.

Archaic. enumeration; count.

Obsolete. talk; discourse.

Nearby words

talcahuano, talcose, talcosis, talcum, talcum powder, tale, tale of genji, the, tale of two cities, a, taleb, talebearer, talent

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 tell¹

Can be confused

tail tale

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tale

Urban America is often portrayed as a tale of two kinds of places, those that “have it” and those who do not.
The Rustbelt Roars Back From the Dead|Joel Kotkin, Richey Piiparinen|December 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Much of the fun of The Churchill Factor comes from the delightful and evervescent way Johnson tells the tale.
Boris Johnson’s Churchill Man Crush|Michael F. Bishop|November 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The basic plot of The Virgin Spring, which was lifted off a Medieval tale, became the framework for The Last House on the Left.
Wes Craven's Favorite Scary Movies|Wes Craven|October 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
At its core, the tale revealed by the leak of what may be more than a million classified documents is a complicated one.
‘Citizenfour’ Is Mesmerizing (If You Don’t Mind the Omissions)|Michael Cohen|October 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The result is a Shakespeare-imbued tale of the 20th century.
Book Bag: 5 Novels Shakespeare Sort of Wrote|Lois Leveen|October 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Hear me—hear me, while I tell you the tale of my troubles, that others may take warning.
An Outcast|F. Colburn Adams
The old woman tried to tell Jud Carpenter's tale, and Conway heard enough.
The Bishop of Cottontown|John Trotwood Moore
One of her dogs had strayed, and she was beating the town to find him; but she paused to listen to his tale.
Grey Town|Gerald Baldwin
I will give you a drawing of it, and if you find it as I describe, you will know that my tale is true.
A Dozen Ways Of Love|Lily Dougall
Before we turned in, the scaffolding of the tale had been put together.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 13 (of 25)|Robert Louis Stevenson

British Dictionary definitions for tale

tale

/ (teɪl) /

noun

a report, narrative, or story

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

a malicious or meddlesome rumour or piece of gossipto bear tales against someone
(in combination)talebearer; taleteller

a fictitious or false statement

tell tales

to tell fanciful lies
to report malicious stories, trivial complaints, etc, esp to someone in authority

tell a tale to reveal something important

tell its own tale to be self-evident

archaic

a number; amount
computation or enumeration

an obsolete word for talk

Word Origin for tale

Old English talu list; related to Old Frisian tele talk, Old Saxon, Old Norse tala talk, number, Old High German zala number

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with tale

tale

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