Etymology
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tell (v.)

Old English tellan "to reckon, calculate, number, compute; consider, think, esteem, account" (past tense tealde, past participle teald), from Proto-Germanic *taljan "to mention in order" (source also of Old Saxon tellian "tell," Old Norse telja "to count, number; to tell, say," Old Frisian tella "to count; to tell," Middle Dutch and Dutch tellen, Old Saxon talon "to count, reckon," Danish tale "to speak," Old High German zalon, German zählen "to count, reckon"), from PIE root *del- (2) "to count, reckon" (see tale).

Meaning "to narrate, announce, relate" in English is from c. 1000; that of "to make known by speech or writing, announce" is from early 12c. Sense of "to reveal or disclose" is from c. 1400; that of "to act as an informer, to 'peach' " is recorded from 1901. Meaning "to order (someone to do something)" is from 1590s. To tell (someone) off "reprimand" is from 1919.

Original sense in teller and phrase tell time. For sense evolution, compare French conter "to count," raconter "to recount;" Italian contare, Spanish contar "to count, recount, narrate;" German zählen "to count," erzählen "to recount, narrate." Klein also compares Hebrew saphar "he counted," sipper "he told."

tell (n.)

"mound, hill," 1864, from Arabic tall, related to Hebrew tel "mount, hill, heap." Compare Hebrew talul "lofty," Akkadian tillu "woman's breast."

Entries linking to tell

tale (n.)

Old English talu "series, calculation," also "story, tale, statement, deposition, narrative, fable, accusation, action of telling," from Proto-Germanic *talō (source also of Dutch taal "speech, language," Danish tale "speech, talk, discourse," German Erzählung "story," Gothic talzjan "to teach"), from PIE root *del- (2) "to recount, count." The secondary Modern English sense of "number, numerical reckoning" (c. 1200) probably was the primary one in Germanic; see tell (v.), teller and Old Frisian tale, Middle Dutch tal, Old Saxon tala, Danish tal, Old High German zala, German Zahl "number."

The ground sense of the Modern English word in its main meaning, then, might have been "an account of things in their due order." Related to talk (v.) and tell (v.). Meaning "things divulged that were given secretly, gossip" is from mid-14c.; first record of talebearer "tattletale" is late 15c.

teller (n.)
"bank clerk who pays or receives money," late 15c., "person who keeps accounts," agent noun from tell (v.) in its secondary sense of "count, enumerate," which is the primary sense of cognate words in many Germanic languages. Earlier "person who announces or narrates" (c. 1300).

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Definitions of tell
1
tell (v.)
express in words;
tell me what is bothering you
Synonyms: state / say
tell (v.)
let something be known;
tell (v.)
narrate or give a detailed account of;
The father told a story to his child
Synonyms: narrate / recount / recite
tell (v.)
give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority;
The mother told the child to get dressed
Synonyms: order / enjoin / say
tell (v.)
discern or comprehend;
He could tell that she was unhappy
tell (v.)
inform positively and with certainty and confidence;
I tell you that man is a crook!
Synonyms: assure
tell (v.)
give evidence;
he was telling on all his former colleague
Synonyms: evidence
tell (v.)
mark as different;
Synonyms: distinguish / separate / differentiate / secern / secernate / severalize / severalise / tell apart
2
Tell (n.)
a Swiss patriot who lived in the early 14th century and who was renowned for his skill as an archer; according to legend an Austrian governor compelled him to shoot an apple from his son's head with his crossbow (which he did successfully without mishap);
Synonyms: William Tell
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near tell

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televise

television

Telex

telic

tell

teller

telling

telltale

tellurian

telluric

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