Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗A reflexive, often habitual behavior, especially one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold. · A giveaway; something that unintentionally reveals or hints at a secret. · That which is told; a tale or account. · A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper.
To determine the number, amount, or value of [something]. · To notice, discern. (Roughly, "can tell" means "know" but with a sense of direct perception.) · To pick up on a difference. (See tell apart for more.) · To narrate, to recount.
From Middle English tellen (“to count, tell”), from Old English tellan (“to count, tell”), from Proto-West Germanic *talljan, from Proto-Germanic *taljaną, *talzijaną (“to count, enumerate”), from Proto-Germanic *talą, *talō (“number, counting”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol- (“calculation, fraud”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian tälle (“to say; tell”), West Frisian telle (“to count”), West Frisian fertelle (“to tell, narrate”), Dutch tellen (“to count”) and Dutch vertellen (“to tell”), Low German tellen (“to count”), German zählen, Faroese telja, Swedish tala (“to speak”). More at tale.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentiontellenenm · to count, tell
- Inherited-form mentiontellanang · to count, tell
- Inherited-form mention*talljangmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*taljanągem-pro
- Derivation mention*talągem-pro
- Derivation mention*dol-ine-pro · calculation, fraud
- Cognate mentiontällestq · to say; tell
- Cognate mentiontellefy · to count
- Cognate mentionfertellefy · to tell, narrate
- Cognate mentiontellennl · to count
- Cognate mentionvertellennl · to tell
- Cognate mentiontellennds · to count
- Cognate mentionzählende
- Cognate mentionteljafo
- Cognate mentiontalasv · to speak
This page abbreviates 10 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "tellen",
"t": "to count, tell"
},
"expansion": "Middle English tellen (“to count, tell”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "tellan",
"t": "to count, tell"
},
"expansion": "Old English tellan (“to count, tell”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*talljan"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *talljan"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*taljaną"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *taljaną"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*talą"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *talą"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*dol-",
"t": "calculation, fraud"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *dol- (“calculation, fraud”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "tälle",
"t": "to say; tell"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian tälle (“to say; tell”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "telle",
"t": "to count"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian telle (“to count”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "fertelle",
"t": "to tell, narrate"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian fertelle (“to tell, narrate”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "tellen",
"t": "to count"
},
"expansion": "Dutch tellen (“to count”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "vertellen",
"t": "to tell"
},
"expansion": "Dutch vertellen (“to tell”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds",
"2": "tellen",
"t": "to count"
},
"expansion": "Low German tellen (“to count”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "zählen"
},
"expansion": "German zählen"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo",
"2": "telja"
},
"expansion": "Faroese telja"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "tala",
"t": "to speak"
},
"expansion": "Swedish tala (“to speak”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"tellen",
"tellen#Middle_English"
],
[
"tellan",
"tellan#Old_English"
],
[
"*talljan",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/talljan"
],
[
"*taljaną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/taljaną"
],
[
"*talzijaną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/talzijaną"
],
[
"*talą",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/talą"
],
[
"*talō",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/talō"
],
[
"*dol-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dol-"
],
[
"tälle",
"tälle#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"telle",
"telle#West_Frisian"
],
[
"fertelle",
"fertelle#West_Frisian"
],
[
"tellen",
"tellen#Dutch"
],
[
"vertellen",
"vertellen#Dutch"
],
[
"tellen",
"tellen#Low_German"
],
[
"zählen",
"zählen#German"
],
[
"telja",
"telja#Faroese"
],
[
"tala",
"tala#Swedish"
],
[
"tale",
"tale"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A reflexive, often habitual behavior, especially one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold.",
"A giveaway; something that unintentionally reveals or hints at a secret.",
"That which is told; a tale or account.",
"A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper."
],
"tags": [
"informal",
"archaic",
"Internet"
],
"recordId": "3ee82444f95996f7e4abbf9f92548c870605ddb15c1ac7cb1e3d65c56d8987df",
"rawRecordSha256": "3e2823e1925e7416f18b93f045519c3b44d1a7178974d9fb4920de1e801cf0d1",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 35210
},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To determine the number, amount, or value of [something].",
"To notice, discern. (Roughly, \"can tell\" means \"know\" but with a sense of direct perception.)",
"To pick up on a difference. (See tell apart for more.)",
"To narrate, to recount."
],
"tags": [
"transitive",
"intransitive",
"ditransitive"
],
"recordId": "5b8aa658611dbc628b7196264ce052ab6ebdea20a6433f38d50241a25ee947e5",
"rawRecordSha256": "6c2e19ff66f23f0e862b05804e54b6b707cca574cb79587a58e6739bea1138a2",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 35209
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 10,
"glosses": 0
}
}