Etymology Explorer › Old English

Where does “tellan” come from?

tellan (Old English) comes from Proto-West Germanic talljan, from Proto-Germanic taljaną, from Proto-Germanic talą, from Proto-Indo-European dol-, from Proto-Indo-European del- — to aim, calculate, adjust, count; to reckon,...

tellan (Old English): to count, calculate; to tell, narrate, recount;...

Definitions

  1. to count, calculate; to tell, narrate, recount;...

Ancestry of “tellan”, step by step

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

Words derived from “tellan”

  • tell
  • telling
  • storytelling
  • untold
  • telltale
  • tellingly
  • retell
  • telt
  • tellest
  • truthtelling
  • untellable
  • tellable
  • tellee
  • reteller
  • untell
  • taletelling
  • untelling
  • counterstorytelling
  • tellingness
  • forthtell
  • overtell
  • tell-worthy
  • outtell
  • mistell
Every word from Proto-Indo-European del- →