tell English · revision 2045

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 899 (Alfred, Boethius)|origins=gem-pro *taljanan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tel/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|tellen]], [[inh|ang|tellan|t=to reckon, count; to relate]] (past tense [[m|ang|tealde]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*taljanan]],^(Barnhart 1988) a verb formed from the noun that gave [[tale]].^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) Its cognates are [[ofs|tella|t=to count; to tell]], [[osx|tellian]], [[nl|tellen|t=to count]], [[goh|zellen|t=to tell, count]] (modern [[de|zählen|t=to count]]) and [[non|telja|t=to count; to tell, say]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) According to Watkins it goes back to the root [[ine-pro|*del-|t=to count, reckon]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) The archaeological noun tell (1864) is a different word, from [[ar|تل|tr=tall|t=hill, hillock]].^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To count or reckon, and to consider or esteem: Old English ''tellan'' meant “to reckon, calculate, number; to think, account”.^(Etymonline) The verb is recorded before 899, in King Alfred's translation of Boethius.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Like French ''conter'' and ''raconter'' and German ''zählen'' and ''erzählen'', ''tell'' joins the ideas of counting and recounting.^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) The sense “narrate, relate” is from about 1000 and “make known by speech or writing” from the early 12th century.^(Etymonline) “To distinguish, discern” (''tell one from the other'') is first recorded about 1370,^(Barnhart 1988) “to reveal, disclose” about 1400,^(Etymonline) and “to order (someone to do something)” in the 1590s.^(Etymonline) Used without an object it meant “to give an account” about 1300, “to inform on someone” in the 1530s and “to chat, gossip” in the 1650s.^(Etymonline) The sense “to have an effect, count” developed in the 18th century.^(HTOED) The old counting sense survives in [[teller]], a person who keeps accounts from 1475,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) and in ''all told'' and ''tell one's beads''.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) ''Tell off'' meant “to count off” in 1804 and “to reprimand” from 1919.^(Etymonline) In Old English ''untold'' meant “not counted”; the sense “too many to count” is Late Middle English.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 899 – Old English ''tellan'' (Alfred's Boethius).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1000 – to narrate, relate.^(Etymonline)

+ * early 12th century – to make known, announce.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1200 – ''hear tell'', hear it said.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – intransitive, to give an account.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1370 – to distinguish, recognize.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – to reveal, disclose.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1475 – ''teller'', a person who keeps accounts.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1530s – to inform on someone.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – to order someone to do something.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1743 – noun, a tale or account (now Scots and dialect).^(HTOED)^(SOED 2002)

+ * 1804 – ''tell off'', to count off.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1864 – ''tell'', an ancient settlement mound.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1919 – ''tell off'', to reprimand.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give an account of; [[narrate]]: ''tell a story''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To express in words; say: ''tell the truth''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To make known; [[reveal]]: ''tell a secret''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To let (someone) know; [[inform]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To order or instruct: ''told him to wait''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To make out or distinguish: ''can't tell the twins apart''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To count one by one: ''tell one's beads''.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+ # To inform on someone; tattle.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To have a noticeable effect: ''the strain began to tell''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(archaeology)'' In the Middle East, a [[mound]] built up from the remains of successive settlements.^(SOED 2002)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(Scotland, dialect)'' A tale or account; a chat.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tellable]]

+ * [[outtell]]

+ * [[pretell]]

+ * [[retell]]

+ * [[foretell]]

+ * [[kiss-and-tell]]

+ * [[show-and-tell]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tale]]

+ * [[teller]]

+ * [[untold]]

+ * [[recount]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}