bale

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bale"

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beɪl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪl
• Homophone: bail

Etymology 1

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

bale (uncountable)

1. Evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.
2. Suffering, woe, torment.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, page 441:

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

   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 2, column 2:

     Rome, and her Rats, are at the point of battell,
     The one ſide muſt haue baile.

   • 1885, “Sir Cawline”, in Francis James Child, editor, The English and Scottish popular ballads‎^[1], volume 2:

     Ffor if you wold comfort me with a kisse,
     Then were I brought ffrom bale to blisse,
     Noe longer here wold I lye.

Derived terms

• baleful

Etymology 2

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

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

Etymology 3

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

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 fibers (especially hay, straw, cotton, or wool), compacted for shipping and handling and bound by twine or wire.

   Hyponyms: haybale, strawbale

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.
6. (collective) A group of turtles.

Coordinate terms

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

Derived terms

• baleable
• baleage
• baleless
• bale of dice
• rebale
• unbale

Translations

rounded bundle of goods

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

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

• Finnish: paali (fi)
• French: ballot (fr) m
• Galician: fardo (gl) m, bala (gl) f, paca f
• German: Ballen (de) m
• Greek: βασταγή (el) f (vastagí)
• Hungarian: bála (hu)
• Indonesian: bal (id)
• Italian: balla (it) f
• Japanese: 俵 (ja) (たわら, tawara)
• Ottoman Turkish: دنك (denk), بالیه (balya)
• Persian: بغچه (fa) (boġče), بلغنده (fa) (balġande)
• Polish: balot (pl) m
• Portuguese: fardo (pt) m
• Russian: тюк (ru) m (tjuk), ки́па (ru) f (kípa)
• Slovak: bal (sk) m
• Spanish: bala (es) f
• Swedish: bal (sv) c
• Turkish: balya (tr)
• Ukrainian: тюк m (tjuk)

bundle of compressed wool or hay

• Bulgarian: бала (bg) (bala)
• Dutch: baal (nl)
• Finnish: paali (fi)
• French: botte (fr) f
• Galician: bala (gl) f, paca f
• Greek: δεμάτι (el) n (demáti)
• Hungarian: bála (hu)
• Italian: balla (it) f
• Maori: pēre, paere
• Norwegian: høyballe m
• Ottoman Turkish: بالیه (balya)
• Polish: bela (pl) f
• Portuguese: fardo (pt) m
• Swedish: bal (sv) c
• Walloon: botea m, balot m, rowe di strin f (big round bale)
• Yiddish: באַלן m (baln)

measurement of hay

• Finnish: paali (fi)
• French: botte (fr) f
• Hungarian: bála (hu)

measurement of paper

• Catalan: bala (ca) f
• Finnish: pakka (fi)
• Hungarian: bála (hu)
• Polish: bela (pl) f
• Spanish: bala (es) f

Further reading

• Units of paper quantity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

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

• bale up

Translations

to wrap into a bale

• Bulgarian: балирам (baliram)
• Catalan: enfardellar (ca), enfardar (ca)
• Finnish: paalata (fi), paalittaa
• German: paketieren (de)
• Hungarian: báláz (hu)
• Maori: pēre
• Polish: balotować m, belować impf
• 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. (British, nautical) To remove water from a boat with buckets etc.

Translations

to remove water from a boat — see bail

Further reading

• Bale in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• -able, Abel, Able, Beal, Blea, Ebla, Elba, able, albe, bael, beal, blea

Balinese

Noun

bale

1. alternative spelling of balé

Basque

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish vale.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bale/ [ba.le]
• Rhymes: -ale, -e
• Hyphenation: ba‧le

Interjection

bale

1. (Southern, colloquial) okay

   Synonym: ados

Further reading

• “bale”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “bale”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Buginese

Noun

bale

1. alternative spelling of balé (“fish”)

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

bale

1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of balen

Anagrams

• Abel

French

Alternative forms

• balle

Etymology

Of Celtic origin, from Gaulish *balu, which is related to Proto-Celtic *bolgos (“bag, sack”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bal/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

bale f (uncountable)

1. chaff (inedible casing of a grain seed)

Further reading

• “bale”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French balai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.le/

Noun

bale

1. broom

Verb

bale

1. to sweep

Javanese

Romanization

bale

1. alternative spelling of balé, romanization of ꦧꦭꦺ

Kapampangan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

balé

1. house

Derived terms

• bale-balayan
• balen
• kababale
• kasiping-bale
• makibale
• mibale-bale
• pibale-bale

Makasar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbale/, [ˈɓa.lɛ]
• Hyphenation: ba‧le

Adjective

bale (Lontara spelling ᨅᨒᨙ)

1. savory; umami (e.g. cheese)

   Balei kasiaʼna jukukku ― My fish tastes savory.

2. delicious; tasty
3. (of sound or voice) pleasant, satisfactory; nice

   Balei batena aʼbicara ― The way he tells the story is pleasant.

Synonyms

• nyamang
• janna

Affixations

• ambalèi
• paʼbale

Further reading

• A. A. Cense (2024), Makassaars-Nederlands woordenboek‎^[2], Brill, →DOI

Middle English

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• balu

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaːl(ə)/

Noun

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

• baleful
• bale-siðe
• bali

Descendants

• English: bale (dated)
• ⇒ Yola: ballcoot

References

• “bāle, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 19 May 2018.

Adjective

bale

2. decisive, ruinous, vicious
3. tormentuous, painful, hurtful

References

• “bāle, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 19 May 2018.

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baːl/

Noun

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

• bale-fyre

Descendants

• English: bale (archaic)
• Scots: bale

References

• “bāl(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 19 May 2018.

Etymology 3

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

• bala, ball

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaːl(ə)/

Noun

bale (plural bales)

2. A bale (rounded bundle)

Descendants

• English: bale

References

• “bāle, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 19 May 2018.
• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Bale”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.
• “bale”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

North Moluccan Malay

Etymology

From Classical Malay باليق (balik). The noun sense is derived from how papeda is served by turning it around a pair of tongs; a serving is thus called a turn of papeda.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈba.le/

Verb

bale

1. (intransitive) to turn around
2. (intransitive) to reverse

Noun

bale

1. (of papeda, etc.) a portion, serving

   lima bale, bukang lima bokor ― five portions, not five bowls

References

• Betty Litamahuputty (2012), Ternate Malay: Grammar and Texts

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

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

1. alternative form of bala

Old Javanese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.le/
• Rhymes: -le
• Hyphenation: ba‧le

Noun

bale

1. open building
2. pavilion
3. hall

Derived terms

• pabale
• pañca bale

Descendants

• > Javanese: ꦧꦭꦺ (balé) (inherited)

References

• "bale" in P.J. Zoetmulder with the collaboration of S.O. Robson, Old Javanese-English Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1982.

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀩𑀮𑁂 (Brahmi script)
• बले (Devanagari script)
• বলে (Bengali script)
• බලෙ (Sinhalese script)
• ဗလေ or ၿလေ (Burmese script)
• พเล or พะเล (Thai script)
• ᨻᩃᩮ (Tai Tham script)
• ພເລ or ພະເລ (Lao script)
• ពលេ (Khmer script)
• 𑄝𑄣𑄬 (Chakma script)

Noun

bale

1. locative singular of bala (“strength”)

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈba.li/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈba.li/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈba.le/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈba.lɨ/

• Homophones: Báli (Brazil), vale (Northern Portugal)
• Hyphenation: ba‧le

Verb

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

Etymology

Inherited 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

• IPA^(key): /ˈba.le/

Noun

bale f pl (plural only)

1. slobber, drool, dribble, saliva

   Synonym: salivă

Declension

plural only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	bale	balele
genitive-dative	bale	balelor
vocative	—

Derived terms

• bălos

Saterland Frisian

Alternative forms

• baale, balle

Etymology

Uncertain. Perhaps a corruption of Old Frisian *babbelia (“to babble”), in which case from Proto-West Germanic *babalōn, from Proto-Germanic *babalōną, whence also Saterland Frisian babbelje.

Pronunciation

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

Verb

bale

1. (intransitive) to speak

Conjugation

Conjugation of bale (irregular)

grúundfoarme		bale
infinitive		tou balen
		present	past
singular	iek	bale	boalde
	du	boalst	boaldest
	hie/ju/dät	boalt	boalde
plural		bale	boalden
		imperative
singular		bale
plural		balet
		present	past
participle		balend	boald
auxiliary verb		—	häbe

Derived terms

• baler
• bebale
• froamdbale
• juunbale
• muulebale
• rundbale
• truchbale
• uutbale
• ätterbale

References

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

Spanish

Verb

bale

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

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• bali

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbale/ [ˈbaː.lɛ]
• Rhymes: -ale
• Syllabification: ba‧le

Noun

bale (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜎᜒ)

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

Adverb

bale (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜎᜒ)

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

bale (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜎᜒ)

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

Derived terms

• bale-bale
• balewala
• balihin
• bumale
• hindi bale
• pabalihin

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from French ballet.

Noun

bale (definite accusative baleyi, plural baleler)

1. ballet