Definitions and meaning of bale
bale
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /beɪ̯l/, [ˈbeɪ̯(ə)ɫ], [beə̯ɫ]
-
- 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)
- Evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.
- Suffering, woe, torment.
Derived terms
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)
- (obsolete) A large fire, a conflagration or bonfire.
- (archaic) A funeral pyre.
- (archaic) A beacon-fire.
Derived terms
Etymology 3
From Middle English bale (“bale”), from Old French bale and Medieval Latin bala, of Germanic origin. Doublet of ball.
Noun
bale (plural bales)
- A rounded bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation.
- 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
- A measurement of hay equal to 10 flakes. Approximately 70-90 lbs (32-41 kg).
- A measurement of paper equal to 10 reams.
- A block of compressed cannabis.
- (collective) A group of turtles.
Coordinate terms
- (measurement of paper): bundle, quire, ream
Derived terms
Translations
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)
- (transitive) To wrap into a bale.
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 4
Alternative spelling of bail.
Verb
bale (third-person singular simple present bales, present participle baling, simple past and past participle baled)
- (British, nautical) To remove water from a boat with buckets etc.
Translations
Further reading
-
- Bale in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
Anagrams
- -able, Abel, Able, Beal, Blea, Ebla, Elba, able, albe, bael, beal, blea
Balinese
Etymology
From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *balay, from Proto-Austronesian *balay.
Noun
bale (Balinese script ᬩᬮᬾ)
- (kasar) building
- Synonym: (andap) gedong
Basque
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish vale.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bale/ [ba.le]
- Rhymes: -ale, -e
- Hyphenation: ba‧le
Interjection
bale
- (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
- alternative spelling of balé (“fish”)
Dutch
Pronunciation
Verb
bale
- (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of balen
Anagrams
French
Alternative forms
Etymology
Of Celtic origin, from Gaulish *balu, which is related to Proto-Celtic *bolgos (“bag, sack”).
Pronunciation
Noun
bale f (uncountable)
- 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
Noun
bale
- broom
Verb
bale
- to sweep
Javanese
Romanization
bale
- 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
- house
Derived terms
Makasar
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbale/, [ˈɓa.lɛ]
- Hyphenation: ba‧le
Adjective
bale (Lontara spelling ᨅᨒᨙ)
- savory; umami (e.g. cheese)
- Balei kasiaʼna jukukku ― My fish tastes savory.
- delicious; tasty
- (of sound or voice) pleasant, satisfactory; nice
- Balei batena aʼbicara ― The way he tells the story is pleasant.
Synonyms
Affixations
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
Pronunciation
Noun
bale (plural bales)
- An evil or wrong act; a bad deed.
- Maliciousness, iniquity, damage.
- Devastation and doom; the causing of lifelessness.
- Woe or torment; hurting, agony.
Related terms
Descendants
- English: bale (dated)
- ⇒ Yola: ballcoot
References
- “bāle, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-19.
Adjective
bale
- decisive, ruinous, vicious
- tormentuous, painful, hurtful
References
- “bāle, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-19.
Etymology 2
Either from Old English bǣl, Old Norse bál, or a conflation of both; in any case, from Proto-Germanic *bēlą.
Pronunciation
Noun
bale
- Any large fire; a bonfire or pyre.
- A fire for inhumation; a funeral pyre.
- A fire for execution or killing.
Related terms
Descendants
- English: bale (archaic)
- Scots: bale
References
- “bāl(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-19.
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
Pronunciation
Noun
bale (plural bales)
- A bale (rounded bundle)
Descendants
References
- “bāle, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-19.
- 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
Verb
bale
- (intransitive) to turn around
- (intransitive) to reverse
Noun
bale
- (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)
- 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
- open building
- pavilion
- hall
Derived terms
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
Noun
bale
- locative singular of bala (“strength”)
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- Homophones: Báli (Brazil), vale (Northern Portugal)
- Hyphenation: ba‧le
Verb
bale
- inflection of balar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
- inflection of balir:
- third-person singular present indicative
- 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
Noun
bale f pl (plural only)
- slobber, drool, dribble, saliva
- Synonym: salivă
Declension
Derived terms
Saterland Frisian
Alternative forms
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
- (intransitive) to speak
Conjugation
Derived terms
References
- Marron C. Fort (2015) “bale”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN
Spanish
Verb
bale
- inflection of balar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
Tagalog
Alternative forms
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)
- (chiefly in the negative, colloquial) worth; value
- promissory note; credit; IOU
- request of partial advanced payment
Adverb
bale (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜎᜒ)
- used to connect previous conversation or events to the following question: so
- used before stating or enumerating the gist or summary of what is being discussed
- used as a meaningless filler word to begin a response or when one cannot start to speak
Adjective
bale (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜎᜒ)
- (colloquial) valuable; important
- bought on credit
Derived terms
Turkish
Etymology
Borrowed from French ballet.
Noun
bale (definite accusative baleyi, plural baleler)
- ballet
Source: wiktionary.org