bale

See also Bâle

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /beɪl/, SAMPA: /beIl/
• Rhymes: -eɪl
• Homophone: bail

Etymology 1

Old English bealo, from Germanic *balwo. Cognate with Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌻𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (balweins, “torture”), Old High German balo (“destruction”), Old Norse bǫl (“disaster”).

Noun

bale (uncountable)

1. Evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.
2. Suffering, woe, torment.

Derived terms

• baleful

Etymology 2

Old English bǣl, from Germanic *bālo, from Proto-Indo-European. Cognate with Old Norse bál (which may have been the direct source for the English word).

Noun

bale (plural bales)

1. (obsolete) A large fire, a conflagration or bonfire.
2. (archaic) A funeral pyre.
3. (archaic) A beacon-fire.

Derived terms

• balefire
• baleful

Etymology 3

Precise derivation uncertain: perhaps from Old French bale, balle, from Medieval Latin balla (“ball, rounded package”), from Germanic; or perhaps from Flemish bale (modern Dutch baal), itself borrowed from French.

Noun

bale (plural bales)

1. A rounded bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation.
2. A bundle of compressed wool or hay, compacted for shipping and handling.
3. A measurement of hay equal to 10 flakes. Approximately 70-90 lbs (32-41 kg).
4. A measurement of paper equal to 10 reams.

Translations

rounded bundle of goods

Bulgarian: бала (bg), денк (bg) Finnish: paali (fi) Hungarian: bála (hu)

Italian: balla (it) f. Slovak: bal (sk) m.

bundle of compressed wool or hay

Bulgarian: бала (bg) Finnish: paali (fi)

Hungarian: bála (hu) Italian: balla (it) f.

measurement of hay

Finnish: paali (fi)

Hungarian: bála (hu)

measurement of paper

Finnish: paali (fi)

Hungarian: bála (hu)

Verb

bale (third-person singular simple present bales, present participle baling, simple past and past participle baled)

1. (transitive) To wrap into a bale.

Translations

to wrap into a bale

Bulgarian: балирам (bg) Finnish: paalata (fi), paalittaa (fi) German: paketieren (de)

Hungarian: báláz (hu) Portuguese: enfardar (pt) Turkish: paketlemek (tr)

Etymology 4

Alternative spelling of bail

Verb

bale (third-person singular simple present bales, present participle baling, simple past and past participle baled)

1. (UK, nautical) To remove water from a boat with buckets etc.

Translations

to remove water from a boat

Bulgarian: изгребвам (bg), (вода от лодка) (bg)

Finnish: äyskäröidä (fi)

See also

• Bale in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.

Anagrams

• Abel, able, albe, Elba

---

Dutch

Verb

bale

1. singular present subjunctive of balen.

Anagrams

• Abel

---

Romanian

Etymology

From Latin root *baba. Cf. 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.

Noun

bale f. (plural)

1. slobber, drool, dribble, saliva

Derived terms

• bălos

See also

• salivă

---

Spanish

Verb

bale (infinitive balar)

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of balar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of balar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of balar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of balar.

---

Turkish

Etymology

From French ballet.

Noun

bale

1. ballet