heal
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Heal
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English helen, from Old English hǣlan (“to heal, cure, save, greet, salute”), from Proto-West Germanic *hailijan, from Proto-Germanic *hailijaną (“to heal, make whole, save”), from Proto-Indo-European *koyl- (“safe, unharmed”). Derived from the adjective at hand in whole.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots hale, hail (“to heal”), Saterland Frisian heila, heilen (“to heal”), West Frisian hielje, Dutch helen (“to heal”), German heilen (“to heal”), Danish hele, Swedish hela (“to heal”), and further Russian цели́ть (celítʹ, “to heal”), Polish calić (“to save”), Czech celit (“to heal”), Serbo-Croatian céliti (“to heal”).
Verb
heal (third-person singular simple present heals, present participle healing, simple past and past participle healed)
- (transitive) To make better from a disease, wound, etc.; to revive or cure.
- This bandage will help to heal your cut.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 8:8:
- Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
- (intransitive) To become better or healthy again.
- Bandages allow cuts to heal.
- (transitive, figurative) To reconcile, as a breach or difference; to make whole; to free from guilt.
- to heal dissensions
- 1945, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations, Global Alphabet: Hearing Before the Committee..., page 69:
- English spelling, although unphonetic and antiphonetic, was inherited from our ancestors and has served magnificently in the glorious past. The weak spot in English spelling, however, can be easily healed with the global alphabet.
Synonyms
- (make better): cure, make whole
- (become better): get better, recover
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Dutch: healen
Translations
make better
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become better
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun
heal (countable and uncountable, plural heals)
- (roleplaying games, countable) A spell or ability that restores hit points or removes a status ailment.
- 2004, Computer Gaming World, volumes 234-237, page 81:
- Also, various interesting spells have been added—for instance, with the Orb spell, you can circle a character, firing offensive bolts or casting heals, and free up a mage-type to cast other spells or even melee.
- 2009, Paul Emmerich, Beginning Lua with World of Warcraft Add-ons, page 351:
- The following macro checks whether our current target is friendly and casts a heal on it if so; otherwise it casts the heal on the target's target […]
- 2012, Constance Steinkuehler, Kurt Squire, Sasha Barab, Games, Learning, and Society:
- Synner, a priest walking by, sees her struggling and casts a heal on her.
- (obsolete, uncountable) health
Etymology 2
See hele.
Verb
heal (third-person singular simple present heals, present participle healing, simple past and past participle healed)
- (rare) Alternative form of hele (“conceal”).
- 1907, John. H. Brownell, Arthur Maurice Smith, Joseph E. Morcombe, The American Tyler-Keystone: Devoted to Freemasonry, page 6:
- "Heal, conceal and keep secret."
- 1998, Clive Richardson, The Horse Breakers, page 212:
- 'I swear before God and all these witnesses that I will always heal, conceal and never reveal any art or part of this secret of horsemanry which is to be revealed to me at this time or any other time hereafter.'
- 2015, Lee Morgan, The Bones Would Do: Book Two of the Christopher Penrose Novels:
- The man in black asked Christopher for the secret passwords he'd been given and he answered correctly. As soon as he had, Christopher felt the point of a blade at his throat. “Do you swear to heal, conceal and never reveal the secrets of the witching arts for all your days […] ?"
Anagrams
Adjective
heal
Etymology 1
From Early Scots helen, helien, from Old English helan (“to conceal, cover, hide”, strong verb) and helian (“to conceal, cover, hide”, weak verb), from Proto-West Germanic *helan, from Proto-Germanic *helaną (“to conceal, stash, receive stolen goods”) and Proto-Germanic *haljaną (“to hull, conceal”); both from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to hide”).
Verb
heal (third-person singular simple present heals, present participle healin, simple past healt, past participle healt)
- (transitive) to hide, conceal, and keep secret
Etymology 2
From Old English hǣlth, from or related to Proto-West Germanic *hail.
Noun
heal (uncountable)
References
- “heal, v.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
- “hele, heil(l, v.1”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.
Etymology
From Old Frisian half, from Proto-West Germanic *halb, from Proto-Germanic *halbaz.
Pronunciation
Adjective
heal
Inflection
This adjective needs an inflection-table template.
Further reading
- “heal”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
Noun
heal
- Alternative form of heale
- 1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3, page 100:
- Heal, griue, an kin, apaa thee, graacuse Forth,
- Health, wealth, and regard upon thee, gracious Forth,
References
- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 45
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