tale

tale · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*del-“to reckon, count”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*talō“calculation, number”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*talu
4. Old English · inherited fromtalu“tale, series, calculation”
5. Middle English · inherited fromtale
6. English todaytale

From Middle English tale, from Old English talu (“tale, series, calculation”), from Proto-West Germanic *talu, from Proto-Germanic *talō (“calculation, number”), from Proto-Indo-European *del- (“to reckon, count”). Cognate with West Frisian taal (“speech, language”), Dutch taal (“language, speech”), German Zahl (“number, figure”), Danish tale (“speech”), Icelandic tala (“speech, talk, discourse, number, figure”), Latin dolus (“guile, deceit, fraud”), Ancient Greek δόλος (dólos, “wile, bait”), Albanian ndjell (“to lure”), Northern Kurdish til (“finger”), Old Armenian տող (toł, “row”). Related to tell, talk.

tale · verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*del-“to count, reckon, aim, calculate, adjust”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*talōną“to count”
3. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*talōn
4. Old English · derived fromtalian“to count, calculate, reckon”
5. Middle English · derived fromtalen
6. English todaytale

From Middle English talen, from Old English talian (“to count, calculate, reckon”), from Proto-West Germanic *talōn, from Proto-Germanic *talōną (“to count”), from Proto-Indo-European *del- (“to count, reckon, aim, calculate, adjust”). Cognate with Dutch talen (“to long, care”), German zahlen (“to pay”), Swedish tala (“to speak, talk”), Icelandic tala (“to talk”).

Words from the same roots