tales

[teylz, tey-leez]
noun Law.
1.
( used with a plural verb ) persons chosen to serve on the jury when the original panel is insufficiently large: originally selected from among those present in court.
2.
( used with a singular verb ) the order or writ summoning such jurors.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English < Medieval Latin tālēs (dē circumstantibus) such (of the bystanders)

Dictionary.com Unabridged

tale

[teyl]
noun
1.
a narrative that relates the details of some real or imaginary event, incident, or case; story: a tale about Lincoln's dog.
2.
a literary composition having the form of such a narrative.
3.
a falsehood; lie.
4.
a rumor or piece of gossip, often malicious or untrue.
5.
the full number or amount.
6.
Archaic. enumeration; count.
7.
Obsolete. talk; discourse.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English; Old English talu series, list, narrative, story; cognate with Dutch taal speech, language, German Zahl number, Old Norse tala number, speech. See tell1

tail, tale.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To tales
00:10
Tales is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
Collins
World English Dictionary
tale (teɪl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a report, narrative, or story
2.  one of a group of short stories connected by an overall narrative framework
3.  a.  a malicious or meddlesome rumour or piece of gossip: to bear tales against someone
 b.  (in combination): talebearer; taleteller
4.  a fictitious or false statement
5.  tell tales
 a.  to tell fanciful lies
 b.  to report malicious stories, trivial complaints, etc, esp to someone in authority
6.  tell a tale to reveal something important
7.  tell its own tale to be self-evident
8.  archaic
 a.  a number; amount
 b.  computation or enumeration
9.  an obsolete word for talk
 
[Old English talu list; related to Old Frisian tele talk, Old Saxon, Old Norse tala talk, number, Old High German zala number]

tales (ˈteɪliːz) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  (functioning as plural) a group of persons summoned from among those present in court or from bystanders to fill vacancies on a jury panel
2.  (functioning as singular) the writ summoning such jurors
 
[C15: from Medieval Latin phrase tālēs dē circumstantibus such men from among the bystanders, from Latin tālis such]
 
'talesman
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

tale
O.E. talu "story, tale, the action of telling," from P.Gmc. *talo (cf. Du. taal "speech, language"), from PIE base *del- "to recount, count." The secondary Eng. sense of "number, numerical reckoning" (c.1200) probably was the primary one in Gmc., cf. teller (see tell) and
O.Fris. tale, M.Du. tal "number," O.S. tala "number," O.H.G. zala, Ger. Zahl "number." The ground sense of the Mod.Eng. word in its main meaning, then, might have been "an account of things in their due order." Related to talk and tell. Meaning "things divulged that were given secretly, gossip" is from c.1350; first record of talebearer "tattletale" is 1478.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Easton
Bible Dictionary

Tale definition


(1.) Heb. tokhen, "a task," as weighed and measured out = tally, i.e., the number told off; the full number (Ex. 5:18; see 1 Sam. 18:27; 1 Chr. 9:28). In Ezek. 45:11 rendered "measure." (2.) Heb. hegeh, "a thought;" "meditation" (Ps. 90:9); meaning properly "as a whisper of sadness," which is soon over, or "as a thought." The LXX. and Vulgate render it "spider;" the Authorized Version and Revised Version, "as a tale" that is told. In Job 37:2 this word is rendered "sound;" Revised Version margin, "muttering;" and in Ezek. 2:10, "mourning."

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Example sentences
His tales include skinny-dipping, nearly getting arrested and plenty of beer.
Their light-induced toxicity may also help explain the origin of vampire tales.
Doing cryptic crosswords or, equally, reading tales of mystery and imagination.
To uncover their tales, you need a storyteller with an expert's knowledge and a
  writer's flair.
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