Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell tale

Tale is spelled T-A-L-E.

What it means: A story, often imaginary, about events or characters.

In a sentence: Once upon a time, a knight told a tale of dragons and magic. ▶

Not to be confused with: tail, a different word.

Same family: tales, tall tale, fib, lie. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Tale comes from Old English “talu,” meaning “story” or “speech.” Over time, English speakers began to use it not just for stories in general, but also for a made‑up or untrue story, which is how it came to mean a trivial lie.

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