TELL

Meaning

Mental senses related to determining, reckoning, or perceiving

Etymology

Origin: Old English

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.

Synonyms & Antonyms

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 31 recorded puzzles:

• 2026-09-03TCEIKLN
• 2026-07-10EBFLOTU
• 2026-06-11EGLMOTY
• 2026-04-11LDIGEHT
• 2026-03-30TBELNOV
• 2026-03-25LEINPTY
• 2026-01-29TEOHGLY
• 2025-11-23LBTOMNE
• 2025-10-16TAELNUX
• 2025-08-08TDPLENY
• 2025-07-10LEPMINT
• 2025-07-03LEUMITV

+19 earlier appearances in the archive.