“told” is a form of
tell
/tɛl/ verb, noun, proper noun
Forms tells telling told telled tolled tellest toldest telleth
- verb (transitive, archaic outside of idioms) To determine the number, amount, or value of [something]. “All told, there were over a dozen. Can you tell time on a clock? He had untold wealth.”
- verb (transitive or intransitive) To notice, discern. (Roughly, "can tell" means "know" but with a sense of direct perception.) “I can tell that you're thrilled.”
- verb To pick up on a difference. (See tell apart for more.) “An expert can tell an original from a forgery.”
- verb (transitive, ditransitive) To narrate, to recount. “I want to tell a story; I want to tell you a story.”
- verb (transitive, ditransitive) To convey by speech; to say. “Finally, someone told him the truth. He seems to like to tell lies.”
- verb (transitive) To instruct or inform. “Please tell me how to do it.”
- verb (transitive) To order; to direct, to say to someone. “Tell him to go away.”
- verb (transitive) To use (beads or similar objects) as an aid to prayer.
- noun A reflexive, often habitual behavior, especially one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold.
- noun (informal) A giveaway; something that unintentionally reveals or hints at a secret.
- noun (archaic) That which is told; a tale or account.
- noun (Internet) A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper.
- noun (archaeology) A hill or mound, originally and especially in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
count reckon enumerate narrate recount relate advise tell on grass up disclose number apprise make known snitch tattle William Tell state say recite order enjoin assure evidence distinguish separate differentiate secern secernate severalize severalise
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English tellen (“to count, tell”), from Old English tellan (“to count, tell”), from Proto-West Germanic *talljan, from Proto-Germanic *taljaną, *talzijaną (“to count, enumerate”), from Proto-Germanic *talą, *talō (“number, counting”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol- (“calculation, fraud”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian tälle (“to say; tell”), West Frisian telle (“to count”), West Frisian fertelle (“to tell, narrate”), Dutch tellen (“to count”) and Dutch vertellen (“to tell”), Low German tellen (“to count”), German zählen, Faroese telja, Swedish tala (“to speak”). More at tale.
From Arabic تَلّ (tall, “hill, elevation”) or Hebrew תֵּל (tél, “hill”), from Proto-Semitic *tall- (“hill”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell money. "An heap of coin he told." Spenser.
- verb To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate.
- verb To give an account; to make report.
- verb To take effect; to produce a marked effect; as, every shot tells; every expression tells. To tell of. (a) To speak of; to mention; to narrate or describe. (b) To inform against; to disclose some fault of. -- To tell on, to inform against. [Archaic & Colloq.]
Etymology [AS. tellan, from talu tale, number, speech; akin to D. tellen to count, G. zählen, OHG. zellen to count, tell, say, Icel. telja, Dan. tale to speak, tælle to count. See Tale that which is told.]
Etymology [Ar.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tell”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details