tales

[ teylz, tey-leez ]

/ teɪlz, ˈteɪ liz /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tales ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Law.

(used with a plural verb) persons chosen to serve on the jury when the original panel is insufficiently large: originally selected from among those present in court.

(used with a singular verb) the order or writ summoning such jurors.

Nearby words

Origin of tales

1300–50; Middle English < Medieval Latin tālēs (dē circumstantibus) such (of the bystanders)

Definition for tales (2 of 2)

tale

[ teyl ]

/ teɪl /

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.

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 confusedtail tale

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

Examples from the Web for tales

He was a magician, an invisible teller of tales with the power to make my sides ache without telling a single joke.
When Your Comic Hero Is an Alleged Rapist|Doug McIntyre|November 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Throughout her career, tales of wild behavior, random sexual encounters and copious drug use have orbited her waifish figure.
Sex, Drugs, and Kate Moss: Secrets of a Wild Supermodel|Tom Sykes|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Tales still swirl about the strange forest ruins and mysterious happenings that have occurred around Gedi.
Kenya Has Its Own Machu Picchu—the Lost Town of Gedi|Nina Strochlic|September 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Many students have written to Deresiewicz with tales of similar high-achievement/low-meaning experiences.
The Elite American College Pile-On|Michael S. Roth|September 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

“I love Americans I just hate your government,” he said before regaling me with tales of family visits to the United States.
I Traveled 6,000 Miles and a Lifetime to See the Pride Flag Fly at the U.S. Embassy in Israel|Jim Neal|June 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If he had written some of the tales he told, and had sold the writing for many dollars, he would have been famous.
The Happy Family|Bertha Muzzy Bower
This new intellectual movement was at first purely literary, and affected merely the manner of writing novels, tales, and poems.
Russia|Donald Mackenzie Wallace
Of course Aino tales, like other tales, may also be treated from a literary point of view.
Aino Folk-Tales|Basil Hall Chamberlain
It is significant that there is not a trace of Mariolatry in these tales and fables.
Rumanian Bird and Beast Stories|Anonymous
The important rôle played by the last in tales of the North of Europe has its counterpart in those of the South.
Italian Popular Tales|Thomas Frederick Crane

British Dictionary definitions for tales (1 of 2)

tales

/ (ˈteɪliːz) /

noun law

(functioning as plural) a group of persons summoned from among those present in court or from bystanders to fill vacancies on a jury panel

(functioning as singular) the writ summoning such jurors

Derived Formstalesman, noun

Word Origin for tales

C15: from Medieval Latin phrase tālēs dē circumstantibus such men from among the bystanders, from Latin tālis such

British Dictionary definitions for tales (2 of 2)

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

Word Origin and History for tales

tale

Old English talu "story, tale, the action of telling," from Proto-Germanic *talo (cf. Dutch taal "speech, language"), from PIE root *del- "to recount, count." The secondary English sense of "number, numerical reckoning" (c.1200) probably was the primary one in Germanic; cf. teller (see tell) and Old Frisian tale, Middle Dutch tal "number," Old Saxon tala "number," Old High German zala, German Zahl "number."

The ground sense of the Modern English word in its main meaning, then, might have been "an account of things in their due order." Related to talk and tell. Meaning "things divulged that were given secretly, gossip" is from mid-14c.; first record of talebearer "tattletale" is late 15c.

Idioms and Phrases with tales

tale

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

tales

noun Law.

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Origin of tales

Definition for tales (2 of 2)

tale

noun

Origin of tale

Examples from the Web for tales

British Dictionary definitions for tales (1 of 2)

tales

noun law

Word Origin for tales

British Dictionary definitions for tales (2 of 2)

tale

noun

Word Origin for tale

Word Origin and History for tales

tale

Idioms and Phrases with tales

tale