bale

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See also: Bale, ɓale, bále, Bâle, balé, balê, balë, ba-lê, and Ba Lê

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /beɪ̯l/, [ˈbeɪ̯(ə)ɫ], [beə̯ɫ]
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪl
  • Homophone: bail

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English bale (“evil”), from Old English bealu, from Proto-West Germanic *balu, from Proto-Germanic *balwą.

Cognate with Low German bal- (“bad, ill”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌻𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (balweins, “torture”), Old High German balo (“destruction”), Old Norse bǫl (“disaster”).

Noun[edit]

bale (uncountable)

  1. Evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.
  2. Suffering, woe, torment.
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English bale (“pyre, funeral pyre”), from Old English bǣl (“pyre, funeral pyre”), from Proto-Germanic *bēlą (“pyre”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine; gleam; sparkle”). Cognate with Old Norse bál (which may have been the direct source for the English word).

Noun[edit]

bale (plural bales)

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

Etymology 3[edit]

From Middle English bale (“bale”), from Old French bale and Medieval Latin bala, of Germanic origin. Doublet of ball.

Round straw bales in Germany

Noun[edit]

bale (plural bales)

  1. A rounded bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation.
    • 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 563:
      So having made up my mind, I packed up in bales a quantity of precious stuffs suited for sea-trade and repaired with them from Baghdad-city to Bassorah-town, where I found ship ready for sea, and in her a company of considerable merchants.
  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.
  5. A block of compressed cannabis.
Coordinate terms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
Further reading[edit]

Verb[edit]

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

  1. (transitive) To wrap into a bale.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 4[edit]

Alternative spelling of bail.

Verb[edit]

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

  1. (Britain, nautical) To remove water from a boat with buckets etc.
Translations[edit]
to remove water from a boat — see bail

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Buginese[edit]

Noun[edit]

bale

  1. fish

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

bale

  1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of balen

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Gaulish *balu.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

bale f (uncountable)

  1. chaff (inedible casing of a grain seed)

Further reading[edit]

Haitian Creole[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French balai.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

bale

  1. broom

Verb[edit]

bale

  1. to sweep

Javanese[edit]

Noun[edit]

bale

  1. Dated spelling of balé.

Kapampangan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Philippine *balay, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *balay, from Proto-Austronesian *balay.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /bəˈle/, [bəˈlɛː]
  • Hyphenation: ba‧le

Noun[edit]

balé

  1. house

Derived terms[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old English bealu, from Proto-West Germanic *balu, from Proto-Germanic *balwą.

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

bale (plural bales)

  1. An evil or wrong act; a bad deed.
  2. Maliciousness, iniquity, damage.
  3. Devastation and doom; the causing of lifelessness.
  4. Woe or torment; hurting, agony.
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
  • English: bale (dated)
References[edit]

Adjective[edit]

bale

  2. decisive, ruinous, vicious
  3. tormentuous, painful, hurtful
References[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Either from Old English bǣl, Old Norse bál, or a conflation of both; in any case, from Proto-Germanic *bēlą.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

bale

  1. Any large fire; a bonfire or pyre.
  2. A fire for inhumation; a funeral pyre.
  3. A fire for execution or killing.
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

Probably borrowed from Old French bale, balle, from Medieval Latin balla, from Frankish or Old High German balla (“ball”), from Proto-Germanic *balluz.

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

bale (plural bales)

  2. A bale (rounded bundle)
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Verb[edit]

bale (present tense balar, past tense bala, past participle bala, passive infinitive balast, present participle balande, imperative bale/bal)

  1. Alternative form of bala

Portuguese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

 

Verb[edit]

bale

  1. inflection of balar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
  2. inflection of balir:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Romanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Vulgar Latin root *baba. Compare 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.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

bale f pl (plural only)

  1. slobber, drool, dribble, saliva

Declension[edit]

declension of bale (plural only)
plural
f gender indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (niște) bale balele
genitive/dative (unor) bale balelor
vocative

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Saterland Frisian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈbaːlə/
  • Hyphenation: ba‧le

Verb[edit]

bale

  1. (intransitive) to speak

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of bale (irregular)
Grúundfoarme bale
Infinitive tou balen
Present tense Past tense
iek bale wie bale iek boalde wie boalden
du boalst jie bale du boaldest jie boalden
hie/ju/dät boalt jo bale hie/ju/dät boalde jo boalden
Present participle Imperative Auxiliary Past participle
balend Singular bale häbe boald
Plural balet

References[edit]

  • Marron C. Fort (2015), “bale”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Spanish[edit]

Verb[edit]

bale

  1. inflection of balar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Tagalog[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Spanish vale, third-person singular present indicative form of valer (“to be worth”), from Old Spanish valer. Compare Chavacano vale.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Hyphenation: ba‧le
  • IPA(key): /ˈbale/, [ˈba.le]
  • Rhymes: -ale

Noun[edit]

bale

  1. (colloquial) worth; value (usually used in the negative)
  2. promissory note; credit; IOU
  3. request of partial advanced payment

Adverb[edit]

bale

  1. used to connect previous conversation or events to the following question: so
  2. used before stating or enumerating the gist or summary of what is being discussed
  3. used as a meaningless filler word to begin a response or when one cannot start to speak

Adjective[edit]

bale

  1. (colloquial) valuable; important
  2. bought on credit

Derived terms[edit]

Turkish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French ballet.

Noun[edit]

bale (definite accusative baleyi, plural baleler)

  1. ballet
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