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 brisk, absurdist tale sketches the duo’s difficulties in inhabiting their newly assumed roles and in the provisional nature of role-playing in general.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 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

Phil Collins faced death two years ago, and has lived to tell the tale.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

The inspiring tale of a forgotten hero: In 1990, a single dad got fed up with the billboards for cigarettes targeting Chicago’s Black neighborhoods.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026

He’d been searching Deadwood Dump for a human book, a tale to keep him company on the long, lonely nights.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

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

“I’m drawn to police detectives, not private detectives,” he says, pointing to the duty-bound, badge-wearing protagonist in “Cure,” a Criterion-anointed classic now held in the same pantheon of serial killer tales as “Seven” and “Manhunter.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

Rags-to-riches stories tend to be as fabulistic as tales designed to sell the upper class as fair and solicitous to the needs of working people, or amenable to Cinderella fantasies.

From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026

There are countless tales of prolific academy strikers who never make the top level in senior football.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

Alas, all his tales tended to be about himself and his globe-trotting adventures, and there was a sameness to them that soon wearied Penelope.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

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