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tale

tale
T t

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [teyl]
    • /teɪl/
    • /teɪl/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [teyl]
    • /teɪl/

Definitions of tale word

  • noun tale a narrative that relates the details of some real or imaginary event, incident, or case; story: a tale about Lincoln's dog. 1
  • noun tale a literary composition having the form of such a narrative. 1
  • noun tale a falsehood; lie. 1
  • noun tale a rumor or piece of gossip, often malicious or untrue. 1
  • noun tale the full number or amount. 1
  • noun tale Archaic. enumeration; count. 1

Information block about the term

Origin of tale

First appearance:

before 900
One of the 4% oldest English words
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

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Tale

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

tale popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 93% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

tale usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for tale

verb tale

  • accounted — an oral or written description of particular events or situations; narrative: an account of the meetings; an account of the trip.
  • add up — If facts or events do not add up, they make you confused about a situation because they do not seem to be consistent. If something that someone has said or done adds up, it is reasonable and sensible.
  • count noses — to count the number of people present, voting, etc.
  • count off — to separate into equal divisions by counting
  • figure out — a numerical symbol, especially an Arabic numeral.

noun tale

  • account — If you have an account with a bank or a similar organization, you have an arrangement to leave your money there and take some out when you need it.
  • allegory — An allegory is a story, poem, or painting in which the characters and events are symbols of something else. Allegories are often moral, religious, or political.
  • anecdote — An anecdote is a short, amusing account of something that has happened.
  • annal — the recorded events of one year
  • backbiting — If you accuse someone of backbiting, you mean that they say unpleasant or unkind things about someone who is not present, especially in order to stop them doing well at work.

Top questions with tale

  • what is a tall tale?
  • what is a fairy tale?
  • who wrote the tale of two cities?
  • how to tale?
  • how many pages is a tale of two cities?
  • when was the tell tale heart written?
  • what fairy tale character are you?
  • who wrote a tale of two cities?

See also

Matching words

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