tale

noun

1. a narrative that relates the details of some real or imaginary event, incident, or case; story: a tale about Lincoln’s dog.
2. a literary composition having the form of such a narrative.
3. a falsehood; lie.
4. a rumor or piece of gossip, often malicious or untrue.
5. the full number or amount.
6. Archaic. enumeration; count.
7. Obsolete. talk; discourse.

noun

1. a report, narrative, or story
2. one of a group of short stories connected by an overall narrative framework
3. 1. a malicious or meddlesome rumour or piece of gossipto bear tales against someone
   2. (in combination)talebearer; taleteller
4. a fictitious or false statement
5. tell tales
   1. to tell fanciful lies
   2. to report malicious stories, trivial complaints, etc, esp to someone in authority
6. tell a tale to reveal something important
7. tell its own tale to be self-evident
8. archaic
   1. a number; amount
   2. computation or enumeration
9. an obsolete word for talk

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