tale
n. countablen. a story about exciting or imaginary events. You use this word when you want to make a story sound more interesting or old-fashioned.
n. a narrative of events, especially one that is imaginatively recounted or fictitious. Often carries a literary or traditional connotation, distinguishing it from a factual report.
My grandfather told us a tale about a hidden treasure.
The old sailor entertained the children with a tall tale about a giant sea monster.
The novel is a cautionary tale regarding the dangers of unchecked ambition in the pursuit of scientific progress.
From Middle English tale, from Old English talu (“tale, series, calculation”), from Proto-West Germanic talu, from Proto-Germanic talō (“calculation, number”), from Proto-Indo-European *del- (“to reckon, count”). Cognate with West Frisian taal (“speech, language”), Dutch taal (“language, speech”), German Zahl (“number, figure”), Danish tale (“speech”), Icelandic tala (“speech, talk, discourse, number, figure”), Latin dolus (“guile, deceit, fraud”), Ancient Greek δόλος (dólos, “wile, bait”), Albanian ndjell (“to lure”), Northern Kurdish til (“finger”), Old Armenian տող (toł, “row”). Related to tell, talk.
From Middle English talen, from Old English talian (“to count, calculate, reckon”), from Proto-West Germanic talōn, from Proto-Germanic talōną (“to count”), from Proto-Indo-European *del- (“to count, reckon, aim, calculate, adjust”). Cognate with Dutch talen (“to long, care”), German zahlen (“to pay”), Swedish tala (“to speak, talk”), Icelandic tala (“to talk”).
Commonly appears in the fixed expression 'a cautionary tale' or 'tall tale'.
He told a tale about his vacationHe told a story about his vacationWhile 'tale' and 'story' are synonyms, 'tale' implies fiction or legend; using it for mundane daily events sounds unnaturally dramatic.