Word Frequency
tales (ˈteɪliːz
)
Definitions
noun
(law)- functioning as plural a group of persons summoned from among those present in court or from bystanders to fill vacancies on a jury panel
- functioning as singular the writ summoning such jurors
Derived Forms
ˈtalesman nounWord Origin
C15: from Medieval Latin phrase tālēs dē circumstantibus such men from among the bystanders, from Latin tālis suchtale (teɪl
)
Definitions
noun
- a report, narrative, or story
- one of a group of short stories connected by an overall narrative framework
-
- a malicious or meddlesome rumour or piece of gossip ⇒
to bear tales against someone
- (in combination) ⇒
talebearer
,taleteller
- a malicious or meddlesome rumour or piece of gossip ⇒
- a fictitious or false statement
-
See tell tales
-
See tell a tale
- (archaic)
- a number; amount
- computation or enumeration
- an obsolete word for talk
Word Origin
Old English talu list; related to Old Frisian tele talk, Old Saxon, Old Norse tala talk, number, Old High German zala numberSynonyms
View thesaurus entryQuotations including 'tales'
"And so from hour to hour we ripe and ripe,And then from hour to hour we rot and rot;And thereby hangs a tale"
"A tale never loses in the telling"
Example Sentences Including 'tales'
' The history of English football is rich in tales of drunken excess.Glasgow Herald (2001)
Above the tiles, the upper walls and hemispherical ceiling were painted with scenes from Georgian fairy tales.CHAMELEON (2002)
Despite the regulations some refugees had slipped westward and the tales they told made folk shudder.In Love and War
Jon's big fish tales notwithstanding, there's very little happening in Ithaca on this particular Friday night.Maxim (2004)
Like all good fairy tales that properly began `Once upon a time," the scene of the crime seemed the best place to start.A Dead Liberty
Lurid tales of on-set shenanigans haven't harmed its reputation.Glasgow Herald (2001)
Next he took up with the daughter of a plantation owner and slave, Mattie Foley, whose tales of woe matched his own.Irish Times (2002)
The point of Dennett's evolutionary tales , ultimately, is to convince us that our choices are genuinely our own.Globe and Mail (2003)
There were clues to the diagnosis, not in medical journals, but from ancient tales of travellers and Eskimos.THE MEDICAL MYSTERIES E-OMNIBUS (2001)
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