tell

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, *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”), Low German tellen (“to count”), German zählen, Faroese telja. More at tale.

verb

1. (transitive, archaic outside of idioms) To count, reckon, or enumerate.
   All told, there were over a dozen.  Can you tell time on a clock?  He had untold wealth.
   Only He who made them can tell the number of the stars, and mark the place of each in the order of the one great dominant spiral. 1875, Hugh MacMillan, The Sunday Magazine
2. (transitive, ditransitive) To narrate.
   I want to tell a story;  I want to tell you a story.
   Tell her you’re here. Audio (US) (file) 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
3. (transitive, ditransitive) To convey by speech; to say.
   Finally, someone told him the truth.  He seems to like to tell lies.
   I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite. 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
4. (transitive) To instruct or inform.
   Please tell me how to do it.
5. (transitive) To order; to direct, to say to someone.
   Tell him to go away.
   She said she hoped she had not distressed him by the course she had felt obliged to take, and he told her not to be a fool. 1909, H. G. Wells, Ann Veronica
   Stability was restored, but once the re-entry propulsion was activated, the crew was told to prepare to come home before the end of their only day in orbit. 2012-10-25, John Noble Wilford, “Neil Armstrong, First Man on the Moon, Dies at 82”, in New York Times
   The driver remained at his post, while telling fireman Jim Nightall to get down on the track and run back to uncouple the burning wagon from the rest. January 12 2022, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948
6. (transitive or intransitive) To discern, notice, identify or distinguish.
   Can you tell whether those flowers are real or silk, from this distance?  No, there's no way to tell.
   I can tell you're upset.
   An expert can tell an original from a forgery.
7. (transitive) To reveal.
   Time will tell what became of him.
8. (intransitive) To be revealed.
   Cherry looks old, Mergenthaler told himself. His age is telling. Querulous — that's the word. He's become a whining, querulous old man absorbed with trivialities. 1990, Stephen Coonts, Under Siege, 1991 Pocket Books edition, p.409
9. (intransitive) To have an effect, especially a noticeable one; to be apparent, to be demonstrated.
   Sir Gerald was moving slower; his wounds were beginning to tell.
   Opinion ought [… to give] merited honour to every one, whatever opinion he may hold[…]keeping nothing back which tells, or can be supposed to tell, in their favour. 1859, John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
   … the 4 miles at 1 in 180 up to Sanquhar were mounted with no greater fall in speed than from 65 to 59 m.p.h., after which, possibly as a result of easing the engine or because the strain on steam supply was beginning to tell, the final 3½ miles up at 1 in 200 up to milepost 59½ were surmounted at a minimum of 49½ m.p.h. 1960 April, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 212
   But England's superior fitness told in the second half, with Delon Armitage, Manu Tuilagi and Chris Ashton (two) going over for tries to secure a bonus-point win. September 18, 2011, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport
10. (transitive) To use (beads or similar objects) as an aid to prayer.
11. (intransitive, childish) To inform someone in authority about a wrongdoing.
    I saw you steal those sweets! I'm telling!
12. (authorship, intransitive) To reveal information in prose through outright expository statement -- contrasted with show
    Maria rewrote the section of her novel that talked about Meg and Sage's friendship to have less telling and more showing.

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.
   Those whose business it is to verify luxury bags insist, at least publicly, that there’s always a “tell” to a superfake. 2023-05-04, Amy X. Wang, Grant Cornett, “Inside the Delirious Rise of ‘Superfake’ Handbags”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
3. (archaic) That which is told; a tale or account.
   April 4, 1743, Horace Walpole, letter to Sir Horace Mann I am at the end of my tell.
4. (Internet) A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper.

Etymology 2

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

noun

1. (archaeology) A hill or mound, originally and especially in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.
   Succoth is now associated with a large tell situated in the Jordan Valley, Deir Allah. 2001, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 205