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Webster 1913 Edition


Pale

Pale

(pāl)
,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Paler
(pāl′ẽr)
;
sup
erl.
Palest
.]
[F.
pâle
, fr.
pâlir
to turn pale, L.
pallere
to be or look pale. Cf.
Appall
,
Fallow
,
pall
,
Verb.
I.
,
Pallid
.]
1.
Wanting in color; not ruddy; dusky white; pallid; wan;
as, a
pale
face; a
pale
red; a
pale
blue.
Pale as a forpined ghost.”
Chaucer.
Speechless he stood and
pale
.
Milton.
They are not of complexion red or
pale
.
T. Randolph.
2.
Not bright or brilliant; of a faint luster or hue; dim;
as, the
pale
light of the moon
.
The night, methinks, is but the daylight sick;
It looks a little
paler
.
Shakespeare
Pale is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, pale-colored, pale-eyed, pale-faced, pale-looking, etc.

Pale

,
Noun.
Paleness; pallor.
[R.]
Shak.

Pale

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Paled
(pāld)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Paling
.]
To turn pale; to lose color or luster.
Whittier.
Apt to
pale
at a trodden worm.
Mrs. Browning.

Pale

,
Verb.
T.
To make pale; to diminish the brightness of.
The glowworm shows the matin to be near,
And ’gins to
pale
his uneffectual fire.
Shakespeare

Pale

,
Noun.
[F.
pal
, fr. L.
palus
: cf. D.
paal
. See
Pole
a stake, and 1st
Pallet
.]
1.
A pointed stake or slat, either driven into the ground, or fastened to a rail at the top and bottom, for fencing or inclosing; a picket.
Deer creep through when a
pale
tumbles down.
Mortimer.
2.
That which incloses or fences in; a boundary; a limit; a fence; a palisade.
“Within one pale or hedge.”
Robynson (More's Utopia).
3.
A space or field having bounds or limits; a limited region or place; an inclosure; – often used figuratively.
“To walk the studious cloister's pale.”
Milton.
“Out of the pale of civilization.”
Macaulay.
5.
A stripe or band, as on a garment.
Chaucer.
6.
(Her.)
One of the greater ordinaries, being a broad perpendicular stripe in an escutcheon, equally distant from the two edges, and occupying one third of it.
7.
A cheese scoop.
Simmonds.
8.
(Shipbuilding)
A shore for bracing a timber before it is fastened.

Pale

,
Verb.
T.
To inclose with pales, or as with pales; to encircle; to encompass; to fence off.
[Your isle, which stands] ribbed and
paled
in
With rocks unscalable and roaring waters.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition


Pale

PALE

,
Adj.
[L. palleo,pallidus.]
1.
White or whitish; wan; deficient in color; not ruddy or fresh of color; as a pale face or skin; pale cheeks. We say also, a pale red, a pale blue,that is, a whitish red or blue. Pale is not precisely synonymous with white, as it usually denotes what we call wan, a darkish dun white.
2.
Not bright; not shining; of a faint luster; dim; as the pale light of the moon.
The night, methinks, is but the daylight sick;
It looks a little paler.

PALE

,
Verb.
T.
To make pale.

PALE

,
Noun.
[L. palus; coinciding with Eng. pole, as well as pale. It has the elements of L. pala,a spade or shovel.]
1.
A narrow board pointed or sharpened at one end, used in fencing or inclosing. This is with us more generally called a picket.
2.
A pointed stake; hence to empale,which see.
3.
An inclosure; properly,that which incloses, like fence, limit; hence,the space inclosed. He was born within the pale of the church; within the pale of christianity.
4.
District; limited territory.
5.
In heraldry, an ordinary, consisting of two perpendicular lines drawn from the top to the base of the escutcheon, and containing the third middle part of the field.

PALE

,
Verb.
T.
To inclose with pales or stakes.
1.
To inclose; to encompass.

Definition 2024


pâle

pâle

See also: pale, Pale, palé, palë, palę, pale-, and pâlé

French

Adjective

pâle m, f (plural pâles)

  1. pale (light in color)
  2. pale (lacking brightness)
  3. pale (dull)

Derived terms

Anagrams


Norman

Etymology 1

From Latin palea.

Noun

pâle f (plural pâles)

  1. (Jersey, France) straw
Alternative forms

Etymology 2

Verb

pâle

  1. first-person singular present indicative of pâler
  2. third-person singular present indicative of pâler
  3. second-person singular imperative of pâler