Etymograph

English

untold

Untold comes from Old English unteald ‘not counted or reckoned’, from Proto-Germanic *talō ‘narration, calculation’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dolH-éh₂.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dolH-éh₂1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*talō2‘narration, calculation’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taljaną3‘to enumerate, count’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*talljan3‘to count, to enumerate’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150tellan4‘count, relate, tell’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150unteald4‘not counted or reckoned’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1864untold4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *talō
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *taljaną
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English tellan
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English untold
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1864: “The South propose to found a Government on servile…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dolH-éh₂Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *talōreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*talōWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *taljaną‘narration, calculation’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taljanąWiktionary, Old English tellan‘to enumerate, count’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*talljanWiktionary, Old English tellan‘to count, to enumerate’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150tellanWiktionary, English untold‘count, relate, tell’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150untealdWiktionary, English untold‘not counted or reckoned’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1864untoldWiktionary, English untold. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1864: “The South propose to found a Government on servile…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *talō ‘narration, calculation’

tale, 4 more

through Old English tellan ‘count, relate, tell’

tell, 3 more

Today it means

adj Not told; not related; not revealed; secret.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “untold”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *talō, Proto-Germanic *taljaną, Old English tellan. 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 *dolH-éh₂ / untold

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