bale
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English bale (“evil”), Old English bealo, from Proto-Germanic *balwą. Cognate with Low German bal- (“bad, ill”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌻𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (balweins, “torture”), Old High German balo (“destruction”), Old Norse bǫl (“disaster”).
NounEdit
bale (uncountable)
- Evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.
- Suffering, woe, torment.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.7:
- That other swayne, like ashes deadly pale, / Lay in the lap of death, rewing his wretched bale.
- c. 1608, William Shakespeare, Coriolanus (Act I, Scene 1):
- "Rome and her rats are at the point of battle; / The one side must have bale."
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.7:
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English bale (“pyre, funeral pyre”), from Old English bǣl (“pyre, funeral pyre”), from Proto-Germanic *bēlą (“pyre”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine; gleam; sparkle”). Cognate with Old Norse bál (which may have been the direct source for the English word).
NounEdit
bale (plural bales)
- (obsolete) A large fire, a conflagration or bonfire.
- (archaic) A funeral pyre.
- (archaic) A beacon-fire.
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 3Edit
From Middle English bale (“bale”), from Old French bale and Medieval Latin bala, of Germanic origin. Doublet of ball.
NounEdit
bale (plural bales)
- A rounded bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation.
- 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 563:
- So having made up my mind, I packed up in bales a quantity of precious stuffs suited for sea-trade and repaired with them from Baghdad-city to Bassorah-town, where I found ship ready for sea, and in her a company of considerable merchants.
- 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 563:
- A bundle of compressed wool or hay, compacted for shipping and handling.
- A measurement of hay equal to 10 flakes. Approximately 70-90 lbs (32-41 kg).
- A measurement of paper equal to 10 reams.
Coordinate termsEdit
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
See alsoEdit
- Units of paper quantity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
VerbEdit
bale (third-person singular simple present bales, present participle baling, simple past and past participle baled)
- (transitive) To wrap into a bale.
TranslationsEdit
Etymology 4Edit
Alternative spelling of bail.
VerbEdit
bale (third-person singular simple present bales, present participle baling, simple past and past participle baled)
TranslationsEdit
See alsoEdit
AnagramsEdit
BugineseEdit
NounEdit
bale
DutchEdit
PronunciationEdit
Audio (file)
VerbEdit
bale
AnagramsEdit
FrenchEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
bale f (uncountable)
- chaff (inedible casing of a grain seed)
Haitian CreoleEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
bale
VerbEdit
bale
- to sweep
JavaneseEdit
NounEdit
bale
- Dated spelling of balé.
KapampanganEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Philippine *balay, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *balay, from Proto-Austronesian *balay.
NounEdit
balé
Middle EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Old English bealo, from Proto-Germanic *balwą.
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
bale (plural bales)
- An evil or wrong act; a bad deed.
- Maliciousness, iniquity, damage.
- Devastation and doom; the causing of lifelessness.
- Woe or torment; hurting, agony.
Related termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
- English: bale (dated)
ReferencesEdit
- “bāle, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
AdjectiveEdit
bale
ReferencesEdit
- “bāle, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2Edit
Either from Old English bǣl, Old Norse bál, or a conflation of both; in any case, from Proto-Germanic *bēlą.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
bale
- Any large fire; a bonfire or pyre.
- A fire for inhumation; a funeral pyre.
- A fire for execution or killing.
Related termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “bāl(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 3Edit
Probably from Old French bale, balle, from Medieval Latin balla, from Frankish or Old High German balla (“ball”), from Proto-Germanic *balluz.
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
bale (plural bales)
- A bale (rounded bundle)
DescendantsEdit
- English: bale
ReferencesEdit
- “bāle, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
- “bale” in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
Norwegian NynorskEdit
VerbEdit
bale (present tense balar, past tense bala, past participle bala, passive infinitive balast, present participle balande, imperative bal)
- Alternative form of bala
PortugueseEdit
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
bale
- first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of balar
- third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of balar
- third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of balar
- third-person singular (você) negative imperative of balar
- third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present indicative of balir
- second-person singular (tu, sometimes used with você) affirmative imperative of balir
RomanianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Vulgar Latin root *baba. Compare French bave, Italian bava, Spanish and Portuguese baba. The normal result, *ba, is not used as the singular has been replaced with bală through analogy.
NounEdit
bale f pl (plural only)
DeclensionEdit
SynonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
SpanishEdit
VerbEdit
bale
- Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of balar.
- First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of balar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of balar.
- Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of balar.