tale

1 a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program; "his narrative was interesting"; "Disney's stories entertain adults as well as children" [syn: narrative, narration, story]

2 a trivial lie; "he told a fib about eating his spinach"; "how can I stop my child from telling stories?" [syn: fib, story, tarradiddle, taradiddle]

English

Pronunciation

/ˈteɪl/

• Rhymes: -eɪl

Etymology

Old English talu

Homophones

• tail

Noun

1. a type of story.

   the Canterbury Tales

Translations

Related terms

• telltale
• fairy tale, fairytale
• tall tale
• tell tales

Afrikaans

Noun

tale

1. Plural of taal

Danish

Noun

tale: en tale, talen

1. speech, talk, address, discourse

Verb

at tale: tal, at tale, jeg taler, jeg talte, jeg har talt

1. To make a speech
2. speak, talk

Ido

Adverb

tale

1. hence

Italian

Etymology

Latin talis

Adjective

tale

1. such

Related terms

• talaltro
• talché
• talmente
• talora
• taluno

Kurdish

Noun

tale

1. happiness

Limburgish

Noun

tale

1. languages

Norwegian

Noun

1. Speech, talk, address, discourse

Derived terms

• tordentale
• trontale

Verb

1. To make a speech
2. Speak, talk

Derived terms

• baktale
• taletrengt

Romanian

Pronunciation

Pronoun

tale

1. fiicele tale îmi spuneau despre casa voastră nouă

   your daughters were telling me about your new house.

Tale may refer to:

• Cautionary tale, a traditional story told in folklore, to warn its hearer of a danger
• Fairy tale, a fictional story that usually features folkloric characters (such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, witches, giants, and talking animals) and enchantments
• Folk tale, a story passed-down within a particular population, which comprises the traditions of that culture or group.
• Fable, a brief story, which illustrates a moral lesson and which features animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are anthropomorphised
• Frame tale, whereby the main story is composed, at least in part, for the purpose of organizing a set of shorter stories.
• Urban Legend, a modern folk tale consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them
• Old wives' tale, a wisdom much like an urban legend, supposedly passed down by old wives to a younger generation
• Tall tale, a story that claims to explain the reason for some natural phenomenon

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