Etymograph

English

tale

Tale comes from Middle English tale ‘personal narrative, account’, from Old English talu ‘tale, series, calculation’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *del- ‘to reckon, count’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*del-1‘to reckon, count’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*talō1‘calculation, number’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*talu1‘calculation, counting’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150talu1‘tale, series, calculation’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tale1‘personal narrative, account’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1594tale1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tale
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie: “the ignorant, […] who measure by tale, and not…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*del-Wiktionary, English tale‘to reckon, count’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*talōWiktionary, English tale‘calculation, number’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*taluWiktionary, English tale‘calculation, counting’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150taluWiktionary, English tale‘tale, series, calculation’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500taleWiktionary, English tale‘personal narrative, account’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1594taleWiktionary, English tale. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie: “the ignorant, […] who measure by tale, and not…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *del- ‘to reckon, count’

toll, teal, 3 more

through Proto-Germanic *talō ‘calculation, number’

told, 4 more

Another origin of tale

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*del-‘to count, reckon, aim, calculate, adjust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*talōną‘to count’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*talōn‘to calculate’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150talian‘to count, calculate, reckon’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500talen
  6. Englishtodaytale

Today it means

noun A rehearsal of what has occurred; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tale”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *del- / tale

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