pale English · revision 7903

+ Pale, whitish, comes from Latin pallidus, while pale, a stake or boundary, comes from Latin pālus, stake.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /peɪl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|whitish}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1325|origins=la pallidus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|pale|t=pale, light-coloured]], paile,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from Latin [[m|la|pallidus|t=pale, wan]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from pallēre, to be pale,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from PIE [[ine-pro|*pel-|t=pale]].^(Etymonline) It is a doublet of [[pallid]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of the complexion, whitish, bloodless: before 1325, in the ''Cursor Mundi'',^(Barnhart 1988) the early 14th century in Etymonline; in a surname Pail from 1225.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of colours, lacking intensity, it is from the mid-14th century,^(Etymonline) and of other things and figuratively from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) Faint or dim is 14th-century.^(Hoad 1986) The verb, to make or turn pale, is from about 1380, in Chaucer's Boethius.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''Paleface'', supposedly translating a Native American word for a European, is American English from 1822.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1225 – in a surname.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1325 – of the complexion.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-14th century – of colours.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1380 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1822 – paleface.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Whitish in complexion; [[pallid]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a colour, light; containing much white.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of light, dim or faint.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Feeble; weak: ''a pale imitation''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To become pale; to blanch.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To seem less important by comparison.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[paleness]]

+ * [[palely]]

+ * [[palish]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|stake, boundary}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1200|origins=la palus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English pal, later pale, [[bor|fro|pal|t=stake]], pel,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and directly Latin [[m|la|palus|alt=pālus|t=stake, prop]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) related to pangere, to fasten (see [[pact]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from PIE [[ine-pro|*peh₂ǵ-|alt=*pag-|t=to fasten]].^(Etymonline) It is a doublet of [[pole]], a stake.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A stake: before 1200;^(Barnhart 1988) about 1200 in Anglo-Latin.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A fence of pointed stakes is from the late 14th century (about 1330 in the OED),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the surname Paler, fence-builder, from the late 12th.^(Etymonline) A limit, boundary or restriction is from about 1400,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and survives in ''beyond the pale''.^(Etymonline) An enclosed area or district within bounds is from before 1400,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and in heraldry a vertical band down the centre of a shield is 15th-century.^(Hoad 1986) 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''.^(Cresswell 2021)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1200 – a stake.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1330 – a fence.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – a limit.^(OED 1989)

+ * 15th century – in heraldry.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1547 – the English Pale in Ireland.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A pointed [[stake]], as in a fence; a picket.^(AHD)

+ # A boundary or limit: ''beyond the pale''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(heraldry)'' A broad vertical band down the centre of a shield.^(AHD)

+ # ''(the Pale)'' The district of Ireland under English rule in the Middle Ages.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To enclose with pales; to fence in.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[paling]]

+ * [[palisade]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[impale]]

+ * [[pallid]]

+ * [[pallor]]

+ * [[pole]]

+ * [[pact]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Lanarkshire Scots a pale was a faucet.^(Wright 1898) The OED also records an obsolete noun pale, paleness (before 1547).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}