tale

American  

[teyl] / teɪl /

noun

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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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

Example Sentences

Angel Studio’s animated biblical tale “David” came in second at the box office this weekend, with an estimated domestic gross of $22 million.

From Los Angeles Times

The only unifying element in this string of tales is anarchy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Todd’s narrative begins as a police-procedural but subtly transforms into a tale of personal redemption and a poignant Christmas story.

From The Wall Street Journal

So he decides to keep appearing in clubs to tell tales of his relationship woes, lacing the commentary with rueful remarks that are vaguely comic, though nothing he says is actually funny.

From The Wall Street Journal

However, the record high in household debt signals a cautionary tale: Consumers can prop up the economy until they can’t.

From Barron's

Related Words

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