bale

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beɪ̯l/, [ˈbeɪ̯(ə)ɫ], [beə̯ɫ]

• 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”).

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).

Etymology 3

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

Etymology 4

Alternative spelling of bail.

Further reading

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

Anagrams

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

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish vale.

Pronunciation

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

Interjection

bale

1. (Southern, colloquial) okay

   Synonym: ados

Further reading

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

Noun

bale

1. Alternative spelling of balé (“fish”)

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

bale

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

Anagrams

• Abel

Alternative forms

• balle

Etymology

From Gaulish *balu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bal/

• Audio:

  (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.

Etymology

From French balai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.le/

Noun

bale

1. broom

Verb

bale

1. to sweep

Romanization

bale

1. Dated spelling of balé. Romanization of ꦧꦭꦺ

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

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.

Further reading

• A. A. Cense (2024) Makassaars-Nederlands woordenboek‎, Brill, →DOI

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

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

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.

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

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

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

References

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

Alternative forms

Noun

bale

1. locative singular of bala (“strength”)

Pronunciation

• 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

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

Alternative forms

• baale, balle

Etymology

Uncertain. Perhaps a corruption of Old Frisian *babbelia (“to babble”), whence also Saterland Frisian babbelje.

Pronunciation

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

Verb

bale

1. (intransitive) to speak

References

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

Verb

bale

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

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

Etymology

Borrowed from French ballet.

Noun

bale (definite accusative baleyi, plural baleler)

1. ballet