tell
/tɛl/verb, noun
tell is spelled T-E-L-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 339 times per million words in written English, the 274th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, tell means “To determine the number, amount, or value of [something]” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in tell?
| Letters | 4: T-E-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 339 times per million words; the 274th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tell?
Tell appears 339 times per million words in written English, the 274th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tell?
- US /tɛl/
- US [tʰɛɫ]
- US [tʰɛl]
Tell has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tell.wav, En-us-tell.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with tell
Also written: tel.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with tell?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tell from its last stressed vowel (/ɛl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tell
- tells present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- telling participle, present
- told participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
- tolled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tell mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
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.
- 2
To notice, discern. (Roughly, "can tell" means "know" but with a sense of direct perception.)
I can tell that you're thrilled.
- 3
To pick up on a difference. (See tell apart for more.)
An expert can tell an original from a forgery.
- 4
To narrate, to recount.
I want to tell a story; I want to tell you a story.
- 5
To convey by speech; to say.
Finally, someone told him the truth. He seems to like to tell lies.
- 6
To instruct or inform.
Please tell me how to do it.
- 7
To order; to direct, to say to someone.
Tell him to go away.
- 8
To use (beads or similar objects) as an aid to prayer.
noun
- 1
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.
- 2
informalA giveaway; something that unintentionally reveals or hints at a secret.
- 3
archaicThat which is told; a tale or account.
April 4, 1743, Horace Walpole, letter to Sir Horace Mann I am at the end of my tell.
- 4
A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper.
- 5
A hill or mound, originally and especially in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tell in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dire , se voir, discerner , tell |
| German | sagen, erzählen, mitteilen , unterscheiden , erklären |
| Portuguese | contar, dizer , notar , tell , mandar |
| Spanish | decir, contar, recontar, platicar, devisar , tell |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tell come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).