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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

tell

/tɛl/
To determine the number, amount, or value of [something].

    Etymology graph

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    • derived
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    • meaning component
    • sound component
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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    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.

    Etymology 2

    From Arabic تَلّ (tall, “hill, elevation”) or Hebrew תֵּל (tél, “hill”), from Proto-Semitic *tall- (“hill”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishtellen “to count, tell”
      • inheritedOld Englishtellan “to count, tell”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*talljan
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*taljaną
            • derivedProto-Germanic*talą
              • derivedProto-Indo-European*dol- “calculation, fraud”
    • derivedArabicتَلّ “hill, elevation”
      • derivedHebrewתֵּל “hill”
        • derivedProto-Semitic*tall- “hill”
    • rootArabicت ل ل

    Related: Saterland Frisian tälle, West Frisian telle, West Frisian fertelle, Dutch tellen, Dutch vertellen, Low German tellen, German zählen, Faroese telja, Swedish tala

    Words built on it: tell time

    Meanings

    verb
    1. To determine the number, amount, or value of [something].
    2. To notice, discern. (Roughly, "can tell" means "know" but with a sense of direct perception.)
    3. To pick up on a difference. (See tell apart for more.)
    4. To narrate, to recount.
    5. To convey by speech; to say.
    6. To instruct or inform.
    noun
    1. 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.
    2. A giveaway; something that unintentionally reveals or hints at a secret.
    3. That which is told; a tale or account.
    4. A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: tell