bail

Bail, security for release, is from Old French baillier, to control, hand over; bail, to scoop water, is from an old word for a bucket from the same Latin root; bail, the cricket crossbar, is from French bail, a crossbar.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /beɪl/^[4]

bail¹ security

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English baille, borrowed from Old French bail (“custody, jurisdiction”), from baillier, to control, guard, hand over, deliver,^[1][2][5] from Latin bāiulāre, to bear a burden, later to care for,^[1][2][5] from bāiulus, a porter, carrier, of unknown or uncertain origin;^[1][2] de Vaan thinks a PIE origin unlikely.^[2] Bailiff is related.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Captivity, custody, stewardship: before 1338, in Mannyng's Chronicle;^[1] charge, guardianship, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Temporary release from jail into another's custody is from 1423, in the Rolls of Parliament (the early 15th century),^[1][2] and the security or bond money given to obtain it from 1485 (the late 15th century).^[1][2] The person who provides the security is from 1593.^[6] To go to bail is from the mid-15th century,^[2] and in 18th-century criminal slang to give leg bail was to run away (1775).^[2][6] The verb, to release on bail, is from the mid-16th century,^[7][5] and to get someone out of difficulty, bail out, a later sense.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1338 – custody.^[1]
• 1423 – release from custody.^[1]
• 1485 – bond money.^[1]
• mid-16th century – to release on bail (verb).^[7]
• 1593 – a surety.^[6]
• 1775 – give leg bail.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Money or security given for the release of an arrested person, guaranteeing his or her appearance at trial.
2. Release on such security: released on bail.
3. A person who provides such security; a surety.

Verb

1. To secure the release of someone by giving bail.
2. To release a person on bail.
3. (bail out) To rescue from a difficult situation, especially a financial one.

Word family

• bailable
• bailout
• bailee

bail² scoop water

Etymology

It is from Middle English baile, balie, a small wooden bucket (1336, mid-14th century),^[1][2] borrowed from Old French baille (“bucket, pail”),^[1][2] from Medieval Latin *bāiula, literally a porter of water,^[2][1] from Latin bāiulus, porter (see the first block).^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To dip water out of a boat: 1613 in Barnhart, the 1610s in Etymonline.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

To bail out, to leave suddenly, originally of airmen jumping from an aircraft, is recorded from 1930, perhaps influenced by bail, to procure someone's release.^[2] In Britain the word is also spelled bale.^[3][7]

Timeline

• 1336 – balie, a bucket.^[1]
• 1613 – to scoop water.^[1]
• 1930 – to bail out of an aircraft.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To remove water from a boat with a container, or to empty a boat of water.
2. (bail out) To jump from an aircraft by parachute, or to abandon a situation.

Noun

1. A container for bailing water from a boat.

Word family

• bailer

bail³ crossbar

Etymology

It is probably the same as French bail, a horizontal piece of wood fixed on two stakes, and English bail, a palisade or outer wall of a castle (see bailey).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A crossbar of any kind: the 1570s.^[2]

Semantic evolution

One of the two small crossbars on top of a cricket wicket is from about 1742.^[2] A bar separating animals in a stable is another use,^[8] and in Australia and New Zealand a frame to hold a cow's head while milking.^[7] The hinged bar holding the paper on a typewriter is from 1904.^[2]

Timeline

• 1570s – a crossbar.^[2]
• c. 1742 – a cricket bail.^[2]
• 1904 – a typewriter bail.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (cricket) Either of the two small crossbars on top of the stumps.
2. A bar or pole separating animals in a stable.

Related words

• bailiff
• bailey
• bale

Usage notes

A further bail, the hooped handle of a pail or kettle, or a hoop supporting a wagon cover, is probably from a Scandinavian source related to Old Norse beygla, a bend.^[1][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin