Where does “told” come from?

Told comes from Middle English tolde, from Old English tealde, from Proto-Germanic talid-, of uncertain origin and meaning.

told (English): simple past tense and past participle of tell

Definitions

  1. simple past tense and past participle of tell

Ancestry of “told”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishtolde—
2Old Englishtealde—
3Proto-Germanictalid-—

Words derived from “told”

Every word from Proto-Germanic talid- →Every word from Old English tealde →Every word from Middle English tolde →