bailey English · revision 10332

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1300|origins=fro baile}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbeɪli/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English bail(l)y, baylle, a variant of [[bail]] in the sense of an outer wall,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) probably from Old French baile, bail(l)e, a palisade, enclosure, enclosed court,^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline) which is of unknown origin, perhaps ultimately connected with Latin bacula, sticks, from the idea of a palisade of stakes.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The outer wall of a castle, enclosing its outer court: about 1200 in Anglo-Latin and the late 13th century in place names,^(Etymonline) before 1300 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was extended to the outer court itself in the early 14th century,^(Etymonline) a sense the OED records from later writers (1845).^(OED 1989) It survives in names such as the Old Bailey in London, the seat of the Central Criminal Court, which stood in the ancient bailey of the city wall between Ludgate and Newgate.^(Hoad 1986)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – Anglo-Latin.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1300 – a castle's outer wall.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 14th century – the outer court.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570 – the Old Bailey.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The outer wall of a [[castle]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The courtyard enclosed by this wall.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[motte and bailey]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bail]]

+ * [[bailiff]]

+ * [[motte]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Bailey's, the Irish whiskey-and-cream liqueur, was introduced in 1974.^(Etymonline) In Kent dialect a bailey was a court within a fortress, and in Gloucestershire a fold-yard.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}