betell

The story

1. Old English · inherited frombetellan“to speak about, answer, defend oneself against a charge or accusation”
2. Middle English · inherited frombetellen“to tell about, calumniate”
3. English todaybetell

From Middle English betellen (“to tell about, calumniate”), from Old English betellan (“to speak about, answer, defend oneself against a charge or accusation”), equivalent to be- (“about, concerning”) + tell.