tellingn.
/ˈtɛlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈtɛlɪŋ/ 1.
a. The action or fact of relating, imparting, or saying something; narration, relation; conversation, talk (now English regional). Also: the capacity to tell something (chiefly in references to something impossible to describe, as beyond all telling, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > narration > [noun]
spellc888
talec1000
telling?c1225
relationc1390
fablec1400
collationc1430
deliverance1431
narrationc1449
exposition1460
recounting1485
deducing1530
recital1565
delivery1592
reporting1603
retailing1609
recountmenta1616
narrative1748
narrating1802
deducement1820
recountal1825
retailment1832
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 131 Ȝef ani þach swa do & ha beo bittere his untoȝene word oðer his fol dede ha ach to treoden ham anan richt wið unwurðe tellunge.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Macc. ii. 25 The tellyngis of stories [L. narrationes historiarum].
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. l. 506 So wolde [I] my wordes plie, That mihten Wraththe and Cheste avale With tellinge of my softe tale.
a1425 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Galba) l. 29163 If þe prest..Be vnwise in his gifing, Or els þe synful in his telling.
1529 T. More Dyaloge Dyuers Maters iii. f. xcii/1 How be yt vppon the tellynge of a tale often tyme happeth, that [etc.].
1595 H. Chettle Piers Plainnes Prentiship 5 It were a story to tell, and were it worth the telling I would describe it in a Story.
1624 Trag. Nero iii. sig. D3v Lady, I was too much in seeing vext, Let it not be redoubled with the telling.
1694 J. Crown Married Beau v. 58 Lio. My Lady was in a wonderful Rage, when I told Her how I had serv'd her. Pol. Well, that I might have guess'd, without your telling.
1700 J. Dryden Fables Pref. sig. *Aijv The Form which he has given to the Telling, makes the Tale his own.
1789 H. L. Piozzi Observ. Journey France I. 117 The theatres here are beautiful beyond all telling.
1856 Crayon Aug. 236/1 The genuine offspring of your own unartistic calling..may help him beyond human telling.
1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 785/1 The aesthetic elect frown on the telling of a story in picture, poem, or novel.
1905 Eng. Dial. Dict. VI. 59 Telling,..talk, conversation.
1919 A. Merritt Moon Pool xxvii. 335 Weird, weird beyond all telling was that exquisite head and bust floating there in air.
1947 Jrnl. Afr. Stud. 6 21/1 The telling of riddles still plays an important part in Mwera social or family life.
1977 B. Babcock in R. Bauman Verbal Art as Performance vii. 62 That type of folklore that has to do with the telling of tales.
2013 New Yorker 12 Aug. 93/1 Such is the force and the impatience of his telling..that we don't have time to lean back and ruminate on the wizardish feats of C.G.I.
b. Something which is related or communicated; an account, a description. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > narration > [noun] > a narrative or account
talec1200
historyc1230
sawc1320
tellinga1325
treatisec1374
chroniclec1380
process?1387
legendc1390
prosec1390
pistlec1395
treatc1400
relationc1425
rehearsal?a1439
report?a1439
narrationc1449
recorda1450
count1477
redec1480
story1489
recount1490
deductiona1532
repetition1533
narrative1539
discourse1546
account1561
recital1561
enarrative1575
legendary1577
enarration1592
recite1594
repeat1609
texture1611
recitation1614
rendera1616
prospect1625
recitement1646
tell1743
diegesis1829
récit1915
narrative line1953
society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > [noun] > a disclosure > disclosure of secret information
tellinga1325
unsecrecy159.
blabbing1596
elimination1601
leaking1611
babblement1825
leakage1863
betrayal1873
dobbing1968
a1325 (?c1300) Northern Passion (Cambr. Gg.1.1) 704 (MED) Is hit no bote Ageines you to holde mote..For ye ne luit notht mi tellinges.
c1330 (?a1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) p. 450 (MED) Under-stond now mi teling, Al what ich haue y-þouȝt.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) 1 John i. 5 This is the tellyng [L. adnuntiatio], that we herden of him, and tellen to ȝou.
c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. l. 2616 (MED) Euery lord scholde faste hye To his paleis with-oute dwellyng, To here a-monges hem his tellyng.
1601 R. Dolman tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. III. 8 The manifold tellings, and propheticall testimonies, which make the creation of heauen and earth vndoubtable.
1632 J. Shirley Changes iv. 50 Yo. Then I must tell you. Tho. Tell me no tellings: Either resigne her to me againe, or—.
1782 C. Vallancey Ess. Celtic Lang. 72 in Gram. Iberno-Celtic, or Irish Lang. (ed. 2) Adh-agalla, good tellings: i.e. goodspell, godspell.
1832 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 28 Apr. 202 They do not tell me anything; but I do not want any of their tellings.
1871 London Q. Rev. Apr. 37 These tellings of the early Northmen correspond with our modern fictions.
1904 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 811/2 The father was a terrible man by all tellings.
1952 in Sc. National Dict. (1974) IX. 247/1 [Ayrshire] There's a tellin in Failford Smiddy, i.e. people are saying, it's the talk.
2000 A. J. Bailey & D. E. Sutherland Civil War Arkansas 273 These Williams descendants all recounted this story although their tellings differed slightly on details.
2. † b. Capacity to be counted or quantified; plentifulness. Obsolete. rare.
a. The action of counting, numbering, estimating, etc. In later use esp.: the work or occupation of a teller in a bank.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > enumeration, reckoning, or calculation > [noun] > action of calculating or counting
accountc1300
numberingc1325
telling1340
calculingc1374
countingc1380
accountinga1387
summinga1387
calculation1393
count?a1400
computationc1425
reckoningc1425
numeration?a1475
supputation?a1475
compute1531
calcule1601
summing up1607
computing1629
subduction1656
enumerating1864
headcount1913
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 1 Þe capiteles of þe boc..byeþ y-wryte to vynde y-redliche by þe tellynge of algorisme ine huyche leaue of þe boc.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cxxvii. 1368 By art of tellyng and numbris [L. numerandi] thow might fynde þe myddel in gemetrie.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 488 Tellynge, or nowmerynge, numeracio.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 557 (MED) The telling of money with a stik were as greet a neiȝing..as is bare handling.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer ii. f. cccxxxvii I can not passen the tellyng of thre as yet.
1589 J. Lyly Pappe with Hatchet E j b I thinke them [sc. sheep] woorth neither the tarring, nor the telling.
1594 H. Plat Jewell House 89 There must bee no time lost in the telling [of the money].
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 97 This small mony..is troublesome in the telling and handling.
1689 Answer to Two Papers 12 Notwithstanding the often telling of Noses.
a1738 H. Grove Sermons (1742) II. iv. 101 The telling of money does not a thousand times so much foul the fingers, as the love of money does the mind.
1781 J. Hatsell Precedents Proc. House of Commons 131 Mr. Baldwyn..had not, during the telling of the Members in the House, appeared either in the body of the House or in the gallery.
a1829 J. Armstrong Lect. Acute & Chronic Dis. (1834) xx. 251 Sometimes the delirium turns on some matter of business, such as settling of accounts, or telling of money.
1889 Church Q. Rev. Apr. 19 Some plan..for the more secure telling of the votes on a division.
1954 E. Lambert Five Bright Stars i. ii. 23 The dim interior [of the bank]..was like a tomb; no crisp telling of notes, no clerks bent over ledgers.
1974 New Society 21 Mar. 715/2 There is the high turn-out, the scrupulous telling of votes, the gravity of returning officers before their microphones.
2008 M. C. Blew Jackalope Dreams vi. 104 A girl who quits school won't find much in the way of jobs, not respectable jobs. Clerking at Woolworths, maybe, or telling at the bank.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun]
mund?c1250
steemc1330
greatnessc1410
substancec1425
importance1485
weight1521
moment1522
weightiness1530
importancy1531
importunance1546
import1548
reckoning1582
sequel1588
ponderosity1589
valure1594
consequence1597
significance1597
circumstance1599
consequent1599
eminency1622
importmenta1625
concernment1626
consideration1634
telling1636
signification1645
considerableness1647
concerningness1657
nearness1679
significancy1679
respectability1769
interest1809
noteworthiness1852
portee1893
valency1897
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > worth > [noun]
worthOE
worthfulnessOE
price?c1225
savour?c1225
aughtshipc1275
dearworthinessc1325
worthiness1372
preciousnessc1390
richesa1400
preciosity1402
valeur1433
valurec1440
preciousheadc1450
vail1471
paragea1475
valour?a1475
availa1522
vailance1532
validity1593
carat1600
condignity1605
valiant1606
esteeming1609
self-worth1610
telling1636
valuableness?1649
worthship1664
treasurableness1898
1636 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. 188 There is much telling in Christ's Kindness!
1637 S. Rutherford Let. 7 Sept. in Joshua Redivivus (1664) i. 168 For my self, when I lay my counts, O what telling, O what weighing is in Christ!
Phrases
P1. to grow (also lose nothing, etc.) in the telling: (of a story) to become embellished in the course of (esp. repeated) narration.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > tell a story [verb (intransitive)] > become embellished in telling
to grow (also lose nothing, etc.) in the telling1654
1654 W. Jenkyn Expos. Jude: 2nd Pt. xxiii. 672 As reports lose nothing in the telling, so sinne loseth nothing in the imitating.
1713 R. Bentley Remarks Disc. Free-thinking 84 The true Fact being no more than this,..the Story grew in the Telling.
1798 J. Carr tr. Lucian Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 384 The poor old man.., being well acquainted with almost all the persons of consequence in the city, went about from one to another, declaring what great news his servants had brought, and losing nothing in the telling.
1855 E. D. E. N. Southworth Missing Bride i. iii. 57 I thought them [sc. tales] the exaggerations of terror, and knew how such stories grow in the telling.
1870 Brit. Q. Rev. 51 216 It is enough to say, that their intrinsic horrors lose nothing in the telling.
1914 E. R. Burroughs Tarzan of Apes vi. 68 The story of the thunder-stick having lost nothing in the telling during these ten years.
1953 T. W. Manson Servant-Messiah ii. 40 I am inclined to think that the story had often been retold, and had perhaps gained in the telling.
2009 K. McKenzie Swindler's Progress vi. 260 He gave details, that had clearly grown in the telling, of Dow's arrest in Scotland.
P2. (there's) no telling: used to express the impossibility of knowing exactly what has happened or will happen; ‘it is impossible to say or predict’.
ΚΠ
1720 E. Lloyd tr. J. Chardin Trav. Persia I. xxiv. 252 What perplexeth most, is, That this Obligation of your first Deputies is not to be found..: So that there is no telling for certain [Fr. Ainsi l'on ne peut dire sûrement], what were the Clauses, Articles and Conditions thereof.
1766 Ann. Reg. 1765 ix. 41/2 There is no telling how far the flame might have spread, or what ravages it might have made.
1824 N. Devon Mag. Aug. 23 ‘You don't expect a quick passage to-day!’ ‘Why, no sir, but there's no telling.’
1861 Amer. Agriculturist Jan. 4/2 We send out as good seed as can be obtained... Of course there is no telling what varieties will be produced.
1941 R. Riskin Meet John Doe (typescript) 46 No telling what that screwball might do. I walked in yesterday—here he is, standing on a table with a fishing pole flycasting.
2013 Guardian 13 Dec. (G2 section) 3/3 [She] kickstarted the ‘lelfie trend’ by posting a picture of her legs... Lelfie? If we let this one pass, then there really is no telling where it will end.
P3. colloquial. that would be telling (earlier more usually that's telling; formerly also that's tellings): used to convey that one is not prepared to divulge a particular piece of information.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > refusal to reveal [phrase]
that's telling1796
that's tellings1836
that would be telling1897
society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > disclosing or revealing [phrase] > secrets
that would be telling1897
1796 F. Burney Camilla III. vi. xiii. 402 Sir Sedley asked with what he could strike it, that would not endanger its life. ‘That's telling, sir!’ cried the man.
1836 F. Marryat Snarleyyow xiv, in Metropolitan June 123 ‘Where is this cargo to be seen, and when?’.. ‘That's tellings,’ replied the man.
1897 ‘S. Grand’ Beth Bk. xiii. 112 ‘May I ask..by whom you were informed?’.. ‘Ah, that would be telling,’ said Beth.
1912 H. W. C. Newte Pansy Meares xx. 257 ‘Who is he?’ ‘That's tellings,’ replied Pansy evasively.
1921 S. Kaye-Smith Joanna Godden iii. 136 ‘What sort of surprise?’ ‘That's telling.’
1973 G. Mitchell Murder of Busy Lizzie xii. 144 ‘But what could you inform about?’ ‘That's telling, isn't it?’
1980 A. Price Hour of Donkey i. 23 ‘Are the Germans in Peronne, Dickie?’.. ‘That would be telling!’
2004 D. Peace GB 84 30 ‘Where are you?’ ‘Now that would be telling,’ she laughed. ‘Where?’ he screamed.
Compounds
General attributive (chiefly in sense 2a).† telling board n. Obsolete† telling-house n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Tellinge bourde or table for exchaunge to tell money.
ΚΠ
1597 in Descriptive Catal. Anc. Deeds Public Rec. Office (1906) V. 485 In the Telling howse usuallie appointed for receiptes and paimentes.
1865 Notes & Queries 11 Mar. 210/1 I found on the Ordnance Map [for Devonshire] a place called ‘Telling House’, and the people about spoke of ‘The telling house’. On inquiring the meaning of the term, I found it was the place to which the sheep were brought down from the hill to be counted.
1896 R. D. Blackmore (title) Tales from the telling-house.
telling machine n.
ΚΠ
1890 20th Ann. Rep. Deputy Master of Mint 1889 Index 138/2 in Parl. Papers (C. 6035) XXVI. 499 Maudslay, telling machine by.
1908 Trans. Canad. Soc. Civil Engineers 22 151 The good coins are..automatically counted into bags by an electrically-driven telling machine.
1984 New Scientist 8 Nov. 23/2 Automated bank branches have already appeared in Sweden. They have lobbies equipped with telling machines.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
tellingadj.
/ˈtɛlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈtɛlɪŋ/ 1. That has a notable impact or effect, or makes a strong impression; effective, striking.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > effect produced on emotions > [adjective] > strong or deep
sensiblea1393
solemnc1400
forcible1573
powerful1588
pressive1623
effectual1662
knock-down1690
impressive1775
imposing1783
effective1790
telling1819
home-coming1848
compelling1901
awesome1916
impactive1934
dynamite1942
fuck-off1962
the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > [adjective] > greatly > producing great effect
strongeOE
violenta1393
lusty1576
powerful1588
home-thrusting1604
potent1609
home-thrust1738
telling1819
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective]
sensiblea1393
eloquent1393
rhetoricc1450
mightya1500
pithy1529
grave1541
pithful1548
weighty1560
sappy1563
emphatical1567
fasta1568
thwacking1567
forceful1571
enforceable1589
energetical1596
eloquious1599
sinewy1600
emphatic1602
sinewed1604
strong1604
tonitruous1606
nervose1645
nervous1663
energetic1674
energic1683
strong1685
cogent1718
lapidary1724
forcible1726
authoritative1749
terse1777
telling1819
vigorous1821
sturdy1822
tonitruant1861
meaty1874
vertebrate1882
energized1887
jawy1898
heavy1970
1819 J. Macdonald Circumstantial Acct. Exper. 109 The hands..meet in front, and close into each other with a smart movement, and a telling simultaneous sound along the ranks.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xxvi. 125 A staid, steadfast man, whose life for the most part was a telling pantomime of action.
1852 J. A. Roebuck Hist. Whig Ministry II. i. 129 This observation..was..what is called in debating language, a telling reply.
1870 Earl Stanhope Hist. Eng. (1872) I. i. 28 It was drawn up with telling force.
1935 Amer. Mercury Feb. 168/1 The main points of its telling evidence were lost on the Washington correspondents.
1958 J. Barth End of Road i. 8 There is an art that my diffuse education had schooled me in, perforce: the art of composing a telling letter of application.
2003 G. D. Roberts Shantaram (2004) xi. 218 Qasim Ali's charge that they'd shamed him, rather than themselves, was a telling blow.
2. That reveals or indicates something; informative, significant.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > action of informing > [adjective]
informatory?a1475
copiousa1500
informing1581
intelligentiary1590
intelligencing1595
informative1646
intelligential1820
informational1821
instructional1832
telling1834
factful1842
facty1871
FYI1973
1834 Morning Post 24 Nov. Have we not the telling fact upon record, that he reduced more taxation in one year than Earl Grey did in three?
1853 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 540 His is the only case which has been made (doubtless only as the most telling example) the standard and representative of the objections to the Income Tax.
1861 T. Goldstücker Páṇini 180 He is now compelled to leave, in a great many instances, a very telling blank space, which would have been filled up if he had really read the Gaņaratnamahodadhi.
1904 Salvation Oct. 294 The new sect..adopted for itself the telling appellation of Karaites, i.e., Readers, Scripturists, as opposed to the Traditionists.
1974 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Feb. 109 A telling parody of inverted sexist trends in our own society.
2007 On Board Jan. 148/2 The new figure on civilian deaths from Iraq Body Count, a group of British and US academics, is especially telling.
2014 Canberra Times 26 June (Times 2 section) 3/1 The response of the vice-chancellor..to the disturbing accounts of bullying and a toxic culture..at the university is telling. His silence speaks volumes.
Derivatives
ˈtellingly adv. effectively, strikingly, significantly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > [adverb]
welleOE
sickerly1340
effectuallya1398
speedfully1398
effectuously1424
workingly?a1425
sickerc1450
trimly?a1513
trima1547
purposely1560
operatively1601
tightly1601
virtually1604
feckfullya1614
prevailingly1615
effectively1656
efficaciously1703
efficiently1828
tellingly1832
availingly1853
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > effect produced on emotions > [adverb]
feelingly?a1425
sensibly?a1425
imprintingly1594
powerfully1766
imposingly1812
impressively1818
tellingly1832
possessingly1919
1832 London Lit. Gaz. 25 Aug. 541/3 After this preface, the following point was most tellingly applicable to the condition of the said wretched and forsaken mother.
1860 W. M. Thackeray Roundabout Journey in Cornhill Mag. Nov. 628 How tellingly the cool lights and warm shadows are made to contrast.
1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth Lang. xiv. 299 A curious fact, and one tellingly illustrative.
1916 D. Barnes in A. Berry New York (1989) 235 He knows how to smell nicely, gesture tellingly.
1941 Life 20 Oct. 97/3 Each individual boy tellingly manifests the characteristics that ultimately will help or hurt him as a member of adult society.
2010 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 29 Apr. 57/1 Alexander briefly but tellingly compares the transformation of Achilles to combat trauma in modern warfare.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.?c1225
adj.1819- boltthreader
- boltupright
- boltuprightness
- boltzmann
- boltzmann brain
- boltzmann distribution
- boltzmann entropy formula
- boltzmann equation
- boltzmann factor
- boltzmann formula
- boltzmann machine
- boltzmann transport equation
- boltzmann's constant
- bolus
- bolus-ways
- bolus-wise
- boluses
- bolusways
- boluswise
- bolwaie
- bolye
- bolȝen
- bom
- boma
- bomah