tell

Where does the word "tell" come from? It comes from Old English tellan, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Tell’s story begins in Old English: tellan meant “to count; to relate.” 'to count, reckon, relate'; to tell a story was to recount it. It reached English by 1300s as tell. The counting sense survives in a bank 'teller', in 'all told', and in the tellers who count votes in the House of Commons. Today, tell means to communicate information; (archaic) to count.

1. Stage 1 · Old English · medieval tellan "to count; to relate", 'to count, reckon, relate'; to tell a story was to recount it.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1300s tell "to relate; to count", the counting sense survives in a bank 'teller', in 'all told', and in the tellers who count votes in the House of Commons.