Definition of "tale"

tale¹

/ˈteɪl/

noun
plural tales
1. A rehearsal of what has occurred; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story.
  Quotations
  And every shepherd tells his taleUnder the hawthorn in the dale.
  1631, John Milton, L'Allegro
  But can you guess what there was in the box? Why, it was a calf's tail, and if the calf's tail had been longer this tale would have been longer too.
  1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 214
  Barla Von: What's this? One of the Earth-clan? Ah, a very famous one, yes? You are the one called Shepard.Barla Von: The tale of how you survived the great tragedy on Akuze is truly remarkable. I am amazed each time I hear it.
  2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, PC, scene: Citadel
2. A number told or counted off; a reckoning by count; an enumeration.
  Quotations
  the ignorant, […] who measure by tale, and not by weight
  1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, Book I, Preface, §4
  In packing, they keep a just tale of the number that every hogshead containeth ...
  1602, Richard Carew, Survey of Cornwall
  They proceeded with some rigour, these Custodiars; took written inventories, clapt-on seals, exacted everywhere strict tale and measure
  1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. 5, Twelfth Century
3. (slang) The fraudulent opportunity presented by a confidence man to the mark or victim.
4. An account of an asserted fact or circumstance; a rumour; a report, especially an idle or malicious story; a piece of gossip or slander; a lie.
  Quotations
  “A very welcome, kind, useful present, that means to the parish. By the way, Hopkins, let this go no further. We don't want the tale running round that a rich person has arrived. Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. […]”
  1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp‎
5. (obsolete) Number; tally; quota.
  Quotations
  And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
  1611, King James Version, Exodus 5:8
  Both number twice a day the milky damsAnd once she takes the tale of all the lambs.
  1697, John Dryden, The Works of Virgil, Pastoral III
  To appease the angry god, two hundred children of the noblest families were picked out for sacrifice, and the tale of victims was swelled by not less than three hundred more who volunteered to die for the fatherland.
  1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 1, page 237
6. (obsolete) Account; estimation; regard; heed.
7. (obsolete) Speech; language.
8. (obsolete) A speech; a statement; talk; conversation; discourse.
9. (law, obsolete) A count; declaration.
10. (rare or archaic) A number of things considered as an aggregate; sum.
11. (rare or archaic) A report of any matter; a relation; a version.
  Quotations
  […] birds […] are aptest by their voice to tell tales what they find; and likewise by the motion of their flight to express the same.
  1605, Francis Bacon, Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Human, Volume I, Chapter IX

tale²

/ˈteɪl/

verb
third-person singular simple present tales, present participle taling, simple past and past participle taled
1. (dialectal or obsolete) To speak; discourse; tell tales.
2. (dialectal, chiefly Scotland) To reckon; consider (someone) to have something.

tale³

/ˈteɪl/

noun
plural tales
1. Alternative form of tael