Where does “tell” come from?

Tell comes from Old English tellan, from Proto-Germanic taljaną, from Proto-Indo-European del-.

tell (English): To count, reckon, or enumerate; To narrate; To...

Definitions

  1. To count, reckon, or enumerate; To narrate; To...

Ancestry of “tell”, step by step

tell traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English tellen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishtellento count; to tell
2Old Englishtellanto count, calculate; to tell, narrate, recount;...
3Proto-West Germanictalljanto count, to enumerate; to recount, to tell
4Proto-Germanictaljanąto enumerate, count; to account, recount, tell
5Proto-Germanictaląspeech; number
6Proto-Indo-Europeandol-reckoning, calculation, fraud; calculation, fraud
7Proto-Indo-Europeandel-to aim, calculate, adjust, count; to reckon,...

via Arabic تَلّ

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Arabicتَلّhillock; hill, elevation
2Proto-Semitictall-hill
3Proto-AfroasiatictVl-hill

Words derived from “tell”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European del- →