tell

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To count, reckon, or enumerate.
2. (ditransitive, transitive) To narrate, to recount.
3. (ditransitive, transitive) To convey by speech; to say.
4. (transitive) To instruct or inform.
5. (transitive) To order; to direct, to say to someone.
6. (intransitive, transitive) To discern, notice, identify or distinguish.
7. (transitive) To reveal.
8. (intransitive) To be revealed.
9. (intransitive) To have an effect, especially a noticeable one; to be apparent, to be demonstrated.
10. (transitive) To use (beads or similar objects) as an aid to prayer.
11. (childish, intransitive) To inform someone in authority about a wrongdoing.
12. (intransitive) To reveal information in prose through outright expository statement — contrasted with show.

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. (informal) A giveaway; something that unintentionally reveals or hints at a secret.
3. (archaic) That which is told; a tale or account.
4. (Internet) A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper.

Noun

A hill or mound, originally and especially in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.

Synonyms

say

🗣️

speak

🗣️

inform

narrate

relate

talk

🗣️

order

recount

report

announce

declare

communicate

recite

state

explain

utter

notify

command

express

pronounce

reveal

show

describe

make known

convey

instruct

mention

ask

enjoin

warn

proclaim

indicate

impart

expound

divulge

distinguish

disclose

direct

teach

chat

let know

apprise

mean

give

speak to

enlighten

assure

advise

dictate

discuss

Translations

dire

🗣️

raconter

erzählen

dire

decir

🗣️

sagen

🗣️

raccontare

contar

🔢

dizer

🗣️

söylemek

🗣️

vertellen

parler

🗣️

anlatmak

narrare

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tɛl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: tellen

Inherited from Old English: tellan

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: tälle

Cognate with Western Frisian: telle

Cognate with Western Frisian: fertelle

Cognate with Dutch: tellen

Cognate with Dutch: vertellen

Cognate with Low German: tellen

Cognate with German: zählen

Cognate with Faroese: telja

In summary

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, *talǭ (“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. More at tale.

Sentences

What did I tell you ?

And will I tell Ray !

As we can tell the bird by its singing , we can tell the person by its ideas .

Just tell them Marge sent you .

Why else would he tell his main rival to prepare for a run ?

Sit on the perch and tell the others what to do .