bale

See also: Bale and Bâle

English

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Old English bealo, from Proto-Germanic *balwô. 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.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.7:

     That other swayne, like ashes deadly pale, / Lay in the lap of death, rewing his wretched bale.

Derived terms

• baleful

Etymology 2

Old English bǣl, from Proto-Germanic *bēlō, 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 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

• Belarusian: цюк m (cjuk)
• Bulgarian: бала (bg) (bala), денк (bg) (denk)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 捆包 (zh) (kǔnbāo), 包 (zh) (bāo), 捆 (zh) (kǔn)

• Finnish: paali (fi)
• French: ballot (fr) m
• German: Ballen (de) m

• Hungarian: bála (hu)
• Italian: balla (it) f
• Japanese: 俵 (ja) (たわら, tawara)
• Russian: тюк (ru) m (tjuk), ки́па (ru) f (kípa)
• Slovak: bal m
• Spanish: bala (es) f
• Ukrainian: тюк m (tjuk)

bundle of compressed wool or hay

• Bulgarian: бала (bg) (bala)
• 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)

• Spanish: bala (es) f

Coordinate terms

• (measurement of paper): bundle, quire, ream

See also

• Units of paper quantity on Wikipedia.en.Wikipedia:Units of paper quantity

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 (baliram)
• Finnish: paalata, paalittaa
• German: paketieren
• Hungarian: báláz (hu)

• Portuguese: enfardar (pt)
• Spanish: embalar (es)
• 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 — see bail

See also

• Bale in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.

Anagrams

• Abel, able, albe, Elba

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

bale

1. singular present subjunctive of balen

Anagrams

• Abel

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Javanese

Etymology

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

Noun

bale

1. pavilion

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Kapampangan

Etymology

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

Noun

bale

1. house

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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

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Spanish

Verb

bale

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.

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Turkish

Etymology

Borrowing from French ballet.

Noun

bale

1. ballet