Carrytale is a compound of carry and tale, literally 'one who carries tales'. Carry is from Latin carrus ('cart'); tale is native Old English talu ('story, narrative'). The historical trail runs through carrus in Latin and talu in Old English. Morphologically, carrytale is transparent: it is a compound of carry and tale, literally 'one who carries tales'. Used as a noun, carrytale now means "a gossip or tale-bearer who spreads rumors", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as carry and tale. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.