pale
Pale, whitish, comes from Latin pallidus, while pale, a stake or boundary, comes from Latin pālus, stake.[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA: /peɪl/[4]
pale1 whitish
Etymology
It is borrowed from Old French pale (“pale, light-coloured”), paile,[1][2][3] from Latin pallidus (“pale, wan”),[1][2] from pallēre, to be pale,[1][2] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“pale”).[1] It is a doublet of pallid.[1][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
Of the complexion, whitish, bloodless: before 1325, in the Cursor Mundi,[2] the early 14th century in Etymonline; in a surname Pail from 1225.[2]
Semantic evolution
Of colours, lacking intensity, it is from the mid-14th century,[1] and of other things and figuratively from the late 14th century.[1] Faint or dim is 14th-century.[3] The verb, to make or turn pale, is from about 1380, in Chaucer's Boethius.[2][1] Paleface, supposedly translating a Native American word for a European, is American English from 1822.[1]
Timeline
- 1225 – in a surname.[2]
- before 1325 – of the complexion.[2]
- mid-14th century – of colours.[1]
- c. 1380 – the verb.[2]
- 1822 – paleface.[1]
Modern meaning
Adjective
- Whitish in complexion; pallid.
- Of a colour, light; containing much white.
- Of light, dim or faint.
- Feeble; weak: a pale imitation.
Verb
- To become pale; to blanch.
- To seem less important by comparison.
Word family
- paleness
- palely
- palish
pale2 stake, boundary
Etymology
It is Middle English pal, later pale, borrowed from Old French pal (“stake”), pel,[2][1][3] and directly Latin pālus (“stake, prop”),[1][2] related to pangere, to fasten (see pact),[2][3] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *pag- (“to fasten”).[1] It is a doublet of pole, a stake.[1][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
A stake: before 1200;[2] about 1200 in Anglo-Latin.[1]
Semantic evolution
A fence of pointed stakes is from the late 14th century (about 1330 in the OED),[1][5] and the surname Paler, fence-builder, from the late 12th.[1] A limit, boundary or restriction is from about 1400,[5][1] and survives in beyond the pale.[1] An enclosed area or district within bounds is from before 1400,[2][5] and in heraldry a vertical band down the centre of a shield is 15th-century.[3] The Pale was the part of Ireland under English jurisdiction, and Word Origins cites a reference of 1547 to the English Pale and the wild Irish.[6][7]
Timeline
- before 1200 – a stake.[2]
- c. 1330 – a fence.[5]
- c. 1400 – a limit.[5]
- 15th century – in heraldry.[3]
- 1547 – the English Pale in Ireland.[6]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A pointed stake, as in a fence; a picket.
- A boundary or limit: beyond the pale.
- (heraldry) A broad vertical band down the centre of a shield.
- (the Pale) The district of Ireland under English rule in the Middle Ages.
Verb
- To enclose with pales; to fence in.
Word family
- paling
- palisade
Related words
- impale
- pallid
- pallor
- pole
- pact
Usage notes
In Lanarkshire Scots a pale was a faucet.[8] The OED also records an obsolete noun pale, paleness (before 1547).[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)