vail

See also: Vail

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veɪl/
• Rhymes: -eɪl
• Homophones: vale, veil

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French vail, from valoir (“to be worth”), from Latin valeō (“I am worth”).

Noun

vail (plural vails)

1. (obsolete) Profit; return; proceeds.
   • 1605, George Chapman, Ben Jonson, and John Marston, Eastward Hoe, London: William Aspley, Act II, Scene 2,^[1]

     My house is as t’were the Caue, where the yong Out-lawe hoords the stolne vayles of his occupation […]

2. (chiefly in the plural, obsolete) Money given to servants by visitors; a gratuity; also vale.
   • 1696, John Dryden, The Husband His Own Cuckold, London: J. Tonson, Act I, Scene 1, p. 9,^[2]

     Do you remember, how many Rich Gowns and Petticoats, how many lac’d Pinners, Hoods, Scarfs, and Nightrails, I have given you, since the three Years you have serv’d me, together with many other Vails, Perquisites, and Profits you have enjoy’d in my Service?

   • 1742, Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews, London: Harrison & Co., 1780, Volume I, Book 2, Chapter 16, p. 91,^[3]

     […] it is a maxim among the gentlemen of our cloth, that those masters who promise the most, perform the least; and I have often heard them say, they have found the largest vails in those families where they were not promised any.

Etymology 2

Aphetic form of avale.

Noun

vail (plural vails)

1. (obsolete) Submission.

Verb

vail (third-person singular simple present vails, present participle vailing, simple past and past participle vailed)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To pay homage, bow, submit, defer (to someone or something); to yield, give way (to something).
   • 1590, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine, London, Act I, Scene 2,^[4]

     […] Christian Merchants that with Russian stems

     Plow vp huge furrowes in the Caspian sea.

     Shall vaile to vs, as Lords of all the Lake.

   • 1608, William Shakespeare, Pericles, Act IV, Prologue,^[5]

     She would with rich and constant pen

     Vail to her mistress Dian;

   • 1690, John Locke, An Essay concerning Human Understanding, London: Thomas Basset, Book 4, Chapter 17, p. 346,^[6]

     […] when a Man does not readily vail to the Opinions of approved Authors, which have been received with respect and submission by others

   • 1692, Robert South, Discourses on Various Subjects and Occasions, Boston: Bowles & Dearborn, 1827, Discourse 5, p. 370,^[7]

     Thy convenience must vail to thy neighbour’s necessity.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To remove as a sign of deference, as a hat.
   • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, Act V, Scene 3,^[8]

     […] Now the time is come

     That France must vail her lofty-plumed crest

     And let her head fall into England’s lap.

   • 1820, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, Chapter 5,^[9]

     […] the Templar […] , without vailing his bonnet, or testifying any reverence for the alleged sanctity of the relic, took from his neck a gold chain, which he flung on the board […]

3. (transitive, obsolete) To lower, let fall; to allow or cause to sink.
   • 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Edward II, London: William Jones,^[10]

     […] when he shall know it lies in vs,

     To banish him, and then to call him home,

     Twill make him vaile the topflag of his pride,

     And feare to offend the meanest noble man.

   • c. 1604, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act V, Scene 1,^[11]

     […] Vail your regard

     Upon a wrong’d, I would fain have said, a maid!

4. (vexillology) (transitive, current, operational) To lower or "dip" a carried flag or banner in a salute by a forward reducing of the angle of the pike/flagstaff with respect to the ground; in extreme instances, as when saluting a monarch, both the banner and the finial of the pike are allowed to rest upon the ground.

Etymology 3

Noun

vail (plural vails)

1. Archaic form of veil.
2. Misspelling of veil.

Verb

vail (third-person singular simple present vails, present participle vailing, simple past and past participle vailed)

1. Archaic form of veil.
2. Misspelling of veil.

Anagrams

• LAIV, Vali, Vial, Vila, vali, vial, vila