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tale

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "tale"

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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.

Noun

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tale (plural tales)

  1. A rehearsal of what has occurred; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story.
    the Canterbury Tales
    • 1631, John Milton, L'Allegro:
      And every shepherd tells his tale
      Under the hawthorn in the dale.
    • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 214:
      But can you guess what there was in the box? Why, it was a calf's tail, and if the calf's tail had been longer this tale would have been longer too.
    • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:
      Barla Von: What's this? One of the Earth-clan? Ah, a very famous one, yes? You are the one called Shepard.
      Barla Von: The tale of how you survived the great tragedy on Akuze is truly remarkable. I am amazed each time I hear it.
  2. A number told or counted off; a reckoning by count; an enumeration.
    • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, Book I, Preface, §4:
      the ignorant, […] who measure by tale, and not by weight
    • 1602, Richard Carew, Survey of Cornwall:
      In packing, they keep a just tale of the number that every hogshead containeth ...
    • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. 5, Twelfth Century:
      They proceeded with some rigour, these Custodiars; took written inventories, clapt-on seals, exacted everywhere strict tale and measure
  3. (slang) The fraudulent opportunity presented by a confidence man to the mark or victim.
  4. An account of an asserted fact or circumstance; a rumour; a report, especially an idle or malicious story; a piece of gossip or slander; a lie.
    Don't tell tales!
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      “A very welcome, kind, useful present, that means to the parish. By the way, Hopkins, let this go no further. We don't want the tale running round that a rich person has arrived. Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. […]”
  5. (obsolete) Number; tally; quota.
    • 1611, King James Version, Exodus 5:8:
      And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
    • 1697, John Dryden, The Works of Virgil, Pastoral III:
      Both number twice a day the milky dams
      And once she takes the tale of all the lambs.
    • 1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 1, page 237:
      To appease the angry god, two hundred children of the noblest families were picked out for sacrifice, and the tale of victims was swelled by not less than three hundred more who volunteered to die for the fatherland.
  6. (obsolete) Account; estimation; regard; heed.
  7. (obsolete) Speech; language.
  8. (obsolete) A speech; a statement; talk; conversation; discourse.
  9. (law, obsolete) A count; declaration.
  10. (rare or archaic) A number of things considered as an aggregate; sum.
  11. (rare or archaic) A report of any matter; a relation; a version.
    • 1605, Francis Bacon, Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Human, Volume I, Chapter IX:
      […] birds […] are aptest by their voice to tell tales what they find; and likewise by the motion of their flight to express the same.
Derived terms
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Translations
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type of story

Etymology 2

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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”).

Verb

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tale (third-person singular simple present tales, present participle taling, simple past and past participle taled)

  1. (dialectal or obsolete) To speak; discourse; tell tales.
  2. (dialectal, chiefly Scotland) To reckon; consider (someone) to have something.
Derived terms
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Etymology 3

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Noun

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tale (plural tales)

  1. Alternative form of tael

See also

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Anagrams

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Afrikaans

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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tale

  1. plural of taal

Azerbaijani

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Etymology

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From Arabic طَالِع (ṭāliʕ).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [tɑːˈle(h)]
  • Hyphenation: ta‧le
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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tale (usually uncountable, definite accusative taleyi)

  1. fate, destiny, lot
    Synonyms: qismət, müqəddərat, qədər
    Onların sonraki taleyi məlum deyil. ― Their subsequent fate is unknown.
  2. fortune (destiny, especially favorable)
    Synonyms: bəxt, iqbal, nəsib
  3. future destiny
    Synonyms: gələcək, müqəddərat

Declension

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Declension of tale
singular plural
nominative taletalelər
definite accusative taleyitaleləri
dative taleyətalelərə
locative taledətalelərdə
ablative taledəntalelərdən
definite genitive taleyintalelərin
Possessive forms of tale
nominative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) taleyim talelərim
sənin (“your”) taleyin talelərin
onun (“his/her/its”) taleyi taleləri
bizim (“our”) taleyimiz talelərimiz
sizin (“your”) taleyiniz taleləriniz
onların (“their”) taleyi or taleləri taleləri
accusative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) taleyimi talelərimi
sənin (“your”) taleyini talelərini
onun (“his/her/its”) taleyini talelərini
bizim (“our”) taleyimizi talelərimizi
sizin (“your”) taleyinizi talelərinizi
onların (“their”) taleyini or talelərini talelərini
dative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) taleyimə talelərimə
sənin (“your”) taleyinə talelərinə
onun (“his/her/its”) taleyinə talelərinə
bizim (“our”) taleyimizə talelərimizə
sizin (“your”) taleyinizə talelərinizə
onların (“their”) taleyinə or talelərinə talelərinə
locative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) taleyimdə talelərimdə
sənin (“your”) taleyində talelərində
onun (“his/her/its”) taleyində talelərində
bizim (“our”) taleyimizdə talelərimizdə
sizin (“your”) taleyinizdə talelərinizdə
onların (“their”) taleyində or talelərində talelərində
ablative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) taleyimdən talelərimdən
sənin (“your”) taleyindən talelərindən
onun (“his/her/its”) taleyindən talelərindən
bizim (“our”) taleyimizdən talelərimizdən
sizin (“your”) taleyinizdən talelərinizdən
onların (“their”) taleyindən or talelərindən talelərindən
genitive
singular plural
mənim (“my”) taleyimin talelərimin
sənin (“your”) taleyinin talelərinin
onun (“his/her/its”) taleyinin talelərinin
bizim (“our”) taleyimizin talelərimizin
sizin (“your”) taleyinizin talelərinizin
onların (“their”) taleyinin or talelərinin talelərinin

Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • “tale” in Obastan.com.

Danish

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Etymology

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From Old Norse tala.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tale c (singular definite talen, plural indefinite taler)

  1. speech, talk, address, discourse

Inflection

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Declension of tale
common
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative tale talen taler talerne
genitive tales talens talers talernes

Verb

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tale (imperative tal, infinitive at tale, present tense taler, past tense talte, perfect tense har talt)

  1. to make a speech
  2. to speak, talk

Conjugation

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Conjugation of tale
active passive
present taler tales
past talte taltes
infinitive tale tales
imperative tal —
participle
present talende
past talt
(auxiliary verb have)
gerund talen

Further reading

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈtaː.lə/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: ta‧le

Noun

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tale f (plural talen, diminutive taaltje n)

  1. Obsolete form of taal.

French

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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tale

  1. inflection of taler:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams

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Ido

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Pronunciation

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Adverb

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tale

  1. hence

Italian

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Etymology

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From Latin tālis.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈta.le/
  • Rhymes: -ale
  • Hyphenation: tà‧le

Determiner

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tale (plural tali)

  1. such
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Anagrams

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Latin

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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tāle

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of tālis

Noun

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tāle

  1. vocative singular of tālus

References

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Limburgish

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Noun

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tale

  1. plural of taal

Middle Dutch

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Etymology

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From Old Dutch *tala, from Proto-West Germanic *talu, from Proto-Germanic *talō.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tāle f

  1. spoken or written words, that which someone says
  2. language

Inflection

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This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

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  • Dutch: taal
  • West Flemish: toale

Further reading

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old English talu, from Proto-West Germanic *talu.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈtaːl(ə)/, /ˈtal(ə)/

Noun

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tale (plural tales)

  1. personal narrative, account
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Descendants

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References

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Northern Kurdish

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Noun

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tale ?

  1. happiness

Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology

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From Old Norse tala.

Noun

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tale m (definite singular talen, indefinite plural taler, definite plural talene)

  1. speech, talk, address, discourse

Derived terms

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Verb

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tale (imperative tal, present tense taler, passive tales, simple past talte, past participle talt, present participle talende)

  1. to make a speech
  2. to speak, talk

Derived terms

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References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From Old Norse tala.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tale m (definite singular talen, indefinite plural talar, definite plural talane)
tale f (definite singular tala, indefinite plural taler, definite plural talene)

  1. speech
  2. a speech, talk, discourse, an address

Derived terms

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Verb

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tale (present tense talar or taler, past tense tala or talte, past participle tala or talt, passive infinitive talast, present participle talande, imperative tal)

  1. alternative form of tala (tala is split-infinitive and/or a-infinitive verb form)

Derived terms

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References

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Old English

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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tale

  1. inflection of talu:
    1. nominative plural
    2. accusative singular/plural
    3. genitive/dative singular

Portuguese

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Verb

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tale

  1. inflection of talar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Romanian

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Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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tale

  1. feminine plural of tău
    Fiicele tale îmi spuneau despre casa voastră nouă.
    Your daughters were telling me about your new house.
  2. neuter plural of tău

Slovene

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Pronoun

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tale

  1. (proximal demonstrative) this, this one

Spanish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈtale/ [ˈt̪a.le]
  • Rhymes: -ale
  • Syllabification: ta‧le

Verb

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tale

  1. inflection of talar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Ternate

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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tale

  1. to carry weight

Conjugation

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Conjugation of tale
singular plural
inclusive exclusive
1st person totale fotale mitale
2nd person notale nitale
3rd
person 		masculine otale itale
yotale (archaic)
feminine motale
neuter itale

References

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  • Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh
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