wale

See also: Wale, walë, and walę

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈweɪl/, [ˈweɪɫ]
• Rhymes: -eɪl
• Homophones: wail, whale (in accent with the whine–wine merger)

Etymology 1

The noun is from Middle English wāle (“planking, welt”), from Old English walu (“ridge, bank; rib, comb (of helmet); metal ridge on top of helmet; weal, mark of a blow”), from Proto-Germanic *waluz (“stick, root”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind, roll”). Akin to Low German wāle; Old Norse vala (“knuckle”). The verb is from late Middle English wālen, from the noun.

Noun

wale (plural wales)

1. A ridge or low barrier.
2. A raised rib in knitted goods or fabric, especially corduroy.

   Coordinate term: course

   • 2008, Mary Lisa Gavenas, The Fairchild Encyclopedia of Menswear, page 99:

     The fabric may be further described according to the number of wales per inch: Corduroy known as fine wale, pin-wale, or needle wale has very thin wales (usually twelve or more per inch, i.e., the width of a pin), while wide wale corduroy has thicker wales (usually six or fewer per inch).

3. The texture of a piece of fabric.
   • 1892, “Family Fashions and Fancies”, in Good Housekeeping, volume 14, page 85:

     Crepon cloths, with their heavy crape-like wale, are a noteworthy part of the season's importations.

4. (nautical) A horizontal ridge or ledge on the outside planking of a wooden ship. (See gunwale, chainwale)
   • 1863, Andrew Murray, Ship-building in Iron and Wood, page 93:

     The strakes between the several ranges of ports, beginning from under the upper-deck ports of a three-decked ship in the royal navy, are called the channel wale, the middle wale, and the main wale.

5. A horizontal timber used for supporting or retaining earth.
   • 1889 February 23, Architecture and Building: A Journal of Investment and Construction, volume 10, page 63:

     A few feet below the first wale another timber is inserted, likewise secured by struts.

6. A timber bolted to a row of piles to secure them together and in position.
   • 1754, Thomas Gardner, An Historical Account of Dunwich […] :

     Except Plank upon the Head of the Key, and under the upper Wale, and Plank to join the piles.

7. A ridge on the outside of a horse collar.
   • 1976, Ralph Whitlock, Gentle giants: the past, present and future of the heavy horse, page 133:

     The wale is shaped to the size of the horse's neck, and then sewn together, with a flap, known as the 'barge', left free along one side. To this 'barge' the body of the collar is sewn.

8. A ridge or streak produced on skin by a cane or whip.
   • c. 1600, John Ayliffe, Satires:

     Shall then that foule infamous Cyneds hide Laugh at the purple wales of others side?

   • 1854, S. W. Koelle, African Native Literature, Or Proverbs, Tales, Fables and Historical in the Kanuri Or Bornu Language:

     When the rat had looked at the toad's whole body, and not seen any wale of a stick, he said to the toad, "Brother toad, I have looked at thy whole body, and not seen any wale of a stick: thou art right."

   • 2018, Seabury Quinn, The Dark Angel: The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, Volume Three:

     I ran to her, and when I reached her I saw across the white skin of her shoulders the distinct wale of a whip.

Related terms

• waling

Translations

ridge

• Czech: val (cs) m

raised rib in knit goods or fabric

• Catalan: bordó (ca) m
• French: côte (fr) f
• Irish: fústa m
• Polish: pręga (pl) f

streak on skin

• Czech: jizva (cs) f, šleh m

Verb

wale (third-person singular simple present wales, present participle waling, simple past and past participle waled)

1. To strike the skin in such a way as to produce a wale or welt.
   • 1832, Owen Felltham, Resolves, Divine, Moral, Political:

     Would suffer his lazy rider to bestride his patie: back, with his hands and whip to wale his flesh, and with his heels to dig into his hungry bowels?

2. To beat a person, especially as punishment or out of anger.
   • 2002, Hal Rothman, Neon Metropolis: How Las Vegas Started the Twenty-First Century:

     When faced with an adulthood that offered few options, grinding poverty and marriage to a man who drank too much and came home to wale on his own family or...no beatings.

3. To give a surface a texture of wales or welts.

Translations

To give a surface a texture of wales

• French: côteler (fr)

See also

• wale on
• whale
• weal
• wheal

Etymology 2

From Middle English wale, wal, from Old Norse val (“choice”), from Proto-Germanic *walą, *walō (“desire, choice”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose, want”). Akin to Old Norse velja (“to choose”), Old High German wala "choice" (German Wahl "choice"), Old English willan (“to want”). More at will.

Noun

wale (plural wales)

1. (Scotland, Northern England) Something selected as being the best, preference; choice.

Verb

wale (third-person singular simple present wales, present participle waling, simple past and past participle waled)

1. (Scotland, Northern England) To choose, select.

Alternative forms

• wail (obsolete)

References

• “wale”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “wale”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• alew, e-law, lawe, weal

Afar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waˈle/, [wʌˈlɛ]
• Hyphenation: wa‧le

Noun

walé f 

1. possibility

References

• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎^[1], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis), page 75

Fulniô

Noun

wale

1. pig

References

• 2009 (originally 1968), Douglas Meland, Doris Meland, Fulniô (Yahthe) Syntax Structure: Preliminary Version, Associação Internacional de Linguística - SIL Brasil, page 19.

Hawaiian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwa.le/, [ˈʋɐ.le]

Noun

wale

1. phlegm
2. saliva

Particle

wale

1. Used to modify the preceding word only, just, alone; quite, very; simply, for free, without reason

References

• Pukui, Mary Kawena, Elbert, Samuel H. (1986) “wale”, in Hawaiian Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press

Middle Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaːlə/

Adverb

wāle

1. Alternative form of wel

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English wealh. For the phonological development, compare hale.

Alternative forms

• wælh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaːl(ə)/

Noun

wale

1. (rare) An outsider; a guest; one from an unfamiliar land.
2. (rare) A thrall; a hireling.

Related terms

• Wales
• Walsch
• walmore
• walnot
• walwort

References

• “wāle, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-10.

Etymology 2

From Old English walu, from Proto-West Germanic *walu, from Proto-Germanic *waluz.

Alternative forms

• walle, wala

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaːl(ə)/

Noun

wale (plural wales)

1. A wooden board used for creating the exterior of a vessel; planking.
2. (rare) A welt; an injury created by use of a whip or a similar weapon.
3. (rare) A lesion; a boil.

Descendants

• English: wale, weal
• Scots: wale, wail

References

• “wāle, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-10.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Old Norse *valu, earlier form of vǫl, variant of val, from Proto-Germanic *walą.

Alternative forms

• wal, wall, wayle

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaːl(ə)/

Noun

wale

1. A selection or possibility; a decision.
2. (rare) A preference; something chosen due to its quality.

Related terms

• walen

Descendants

• English: wale
• Scots: wale, Scots: wail

References

• “wāle, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-10.

Adjective

wale

2. amazing, of great quality or talent.
3. pleasing, nice, enjoyable, benevolent
4. strong, firm, strengthy
5. (negatively) impactful, grievous, melancholy
6. (rare) decided, resolved, picked.

References

• “wāle, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-10.

Etymology 4

Noun

wale

1. Alternative form of vale

Etymology 5

Noun

wale

1. Alternative form of wal

Etymology 6

Verb

wale

1. Alternative form of walen

Etymology 7

Noun

wale

1. Alternative form of whale

North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian willa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvalə/

Verb

wale

1. (Mooring) to want

Conjugation

Mooring conjugation of wale

infinitive I	wale
infinitive II	tu walen
infinitive III	än wal
past participle	wäljt
imperative	-
	present	past
1st-person singular	ik wal	ik wälj
2nd-person singular	dü wäät	dü wäist
3rd-person singular	hi/jü/et wal	hi/jü/et wälj
1st-person dual	wat wan	wat wänj
2nd-person dual	jat wan	jat wänj
1st-person plural	we wan	we wänj
2nd-person plural	jam wan	jam wänj
3rd-person plural	ja wan	ja wänj
	perfect	pluperfect
1st-person singular	ik hääw wäljt	ik häi wäljt
2nd-person singular	dü hääst wäljt	dü häist wäljt
3rd-person singular	hi/jü/et heet wäljt	hi/jü/et häi wäljt
1st-person dual	wat hääwe wäljt	wat häin wäljt
2nd-person dual	jat hääwe wäljt	jat häin wäljt
1st-person plural	we hääwe wäljt	we häin wäljt
2nd-person plural	jam hääwe wäljt	jam häin wäljt
3rd-person plural	ja hääwe wäljt	ja häin wäljt
	future
1st-person singular	ik wård wale
2nd-person singular	dü wårst wale
3rd-person singular	hi/jü/et wårt wale
1st-person dual	wat wårde wale
2nd-person dual	jat wårde wale
1st-person plural	we wårde wale
2nd-person plural	jam wårde wale
3rd-person plural	ja wårde wale

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈva.lɛ/
• Rhymes: -alɛ
• Syllabification: wa‧le
• Homophone: walę

Noun

wale m inan or m animal

1. locative/vocative singular of wał

Noun

wale m animal

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of wal

Pukapukan

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *fale, from Proto-Central Pacific *vale, from Proto-Oceanic *pale, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *balay.

Noun

wale

1. house

   Nō mātou te wale nei.

   This is our house.

2. home

   Ka wano au ki wale kaikai.

   I'll go home and eat.

3. building

Derived terms

• waleimu (“cookhouse, kitchen”)
• walepule (“church”)
• walemaki (“hospital”)
• wale āuli (“jail, prison”)

Further reading

• Te Pukamuna | Pukapuka Dictionary

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English wal, wale, from Old Norse val (“choice”), from Proto-Germanic *walą, *walō (“desire, choice”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose, wish”).

Akin to Old Norse velja (“to choose”), Old High German wala (“choice”) (German wählen (“to choose”)), Old English willan (“to want”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wel/

Noun

wale (plural wales)

1. choice, selection

Verb

wale (third-person singular simple present wales, present participle walin, simple past waled, past participle waled)

1. to choose

Swahili

Adjective

wale

1. Wa class inflected form of -le.

Verb

wale

1. third-person plural subjunctive of -la

Ternate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈwa.le]

Verb

wale

1. (intransitive) to swing ones arms

Conjugation

Conjugation of wale
	Singular	Plural
	Inclusive	Exclusive
1st	towale	fowale	miwale
2nd	nowale	niwale
3rd	Masculine	owale	iwale, yowale†
Feminine	mowale
Neuter	iwale
† - archaic

References

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh