bale

bale

See also: Bale, ɓale, bále, Bâle, balé, balê, balë, ba-lê, and Ba Lê

English

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”).

Noun

bale (uncountable)

1. Evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.
2. Suffering, woe, torment.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, OCLC 932900760, page 441:

     That other ſwayne, like aſhes deadly pale, / Lay in the lap of death, rewing his wretched bale.

   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i], page 2, column 2:

     Rome, and her Rats, are at the point of battell, / The one ſide muſt haue baile.

Derived terms

• baleful

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)

1. (obsolete) A large fire, a conflagration or bonfire.
2. (archaic) A funeral pyre.
3. (archaic) A beacon-fire.

Derived terms

• balefire

Etymology 3

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

Round straw bales in Germany

Noun

bale (plural bales)

1. A rounded bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation.
   • 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 563:

     So having made up my mind, I packed up in bales a quantity of precious stuffs suited for sea-trade and repaired with them from Baghdad-city to Bassorah-town, where I found ship ready for sea, and in her a company of considerable merchants.

2. A bundle of compressed wool or hay, compacted for shipping and handling.
3. A measurement of hay equal to 10 flakes. Approximately 70-90 lbs (32-41 kg).
4. A measurement of paper equal to 10 reams.
5. A block of compressed cannabis.

Coordinate terms

• (measurement of paper): bundle, quire, ream

Derived terms

• bale of dice

Translations

rounded bundle of goods

Belarusian: цюк m (cjuk) Bulgarian: бала (bg) (bala), денк (bg) (denk) Catalan: fardell (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 捆包 (zh) (kǔnbāo), 包 (zh) (bāo), 捆 (zh) (kǔn) Finnish: paali (fi) French: ballot (fr) m Galician: fardo m, bala f, paca f German: Ballen (de) m Greek: βασταγή (el) f (vastagí) Hungarian: bála (hu) Indonesian: bal (id) Italian: balla (it) f Japanese: 俵 (ja) (たわら, tawara) Persian: بغچه‎ (fa) (boqče), بلغنده‎ (fa) (balqande) Polish: balot (pl) m Portuguese: fardo (pt) m Russian: тюк (ru) m (tjuk), ки́па (ru) f (kípa) Slovak: bal (sk) m Spanish: bala (es) f Turkish: balya (tr) Ukrainian: тюк m (tjuk)

bundle of compressed wool or hay

Bulgarian: бала (bg) (bala) Finnish: paali (fi) French: botte (fr) f Galician: bala f, paca f Greek: δεμάτι (el) n (demáti) Hungarian: bála (hu) Italian: balla (it) f Maori: pēre, paere Norwegian: høyballe m Polish: bela (pl) f Portuguese: fardo (pt) m Walloon: botea m, balot m, rowe di strin f (big round bale) Yiddish: באַלן‎ m (baln)

measurement of hay

Finnish: paali (fi) French: botte (fr) f Hungarian: bála (hu)

measurement of paper

Catalan: bala (ca) f Finnish: pakka (fi) Hungarian: bála (hu) Polish: bela (pl) f Spanish: bala (es) f

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)

1. (transitive) To wrap into a bale.

Derived terms

• bale up

Translations

to wrap into a bale

Bulgarian: балирам (baliram) Catalan: enfardellar (ca), enfardar (ca) Finnish: paalata (fi), paalittaa German: paketieren (de) Hungarian: báláz (hu) Maori: pēre Polish: balotować m, belować impf Portuguese: enfardar (pt) Spanish: embalar (es) Turkish: paketlemek (tr)

Etymology 4

Alternative spelling of bail.

Verb

bale (third-person singular simple present bales, present participle baling, simple past and past participle baled)

1. (Britain, nautical) To remove water from a boat with buckets etc.

Translations

to remove water from a boat — see bail

Further reading

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

Anagrams

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

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Buginese

Noun

bale

1. fish

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

bale

1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of balen

Anagrams

• Abel

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French

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.

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Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French balai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.le/

Noun

bale

1. broom

Verb

bale

1. to sweep

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Javanese

Noun

bale

1. Dated spelling of balé.

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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

1. house

Derived terms

• bale-balayan
• balen
• kababale
• kasiping-bale
• makibale
• mibale-bale
• pibale-bale

 

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Middle English

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• balu

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaːl(ə)/

Noun

bale (plural bales)

1. An evil or wrong act; a bad deed.
2. Maliciousness, iniquity, damage.
3. Devastation and doom; the causing of lifelessness.
4. Woe or torment; hurting, agony.

Related terms

• baleful
• bale-siðe

Descendants

• English: bale (dated)

References

• “bāle, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-19.

Adjective

bale

1. decisive, ruinous, vicious
2. 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

• IPA^(key): /baːl/

Noun

bale

1. Any large fire; a bonfire or pyre.
2. A fire for inhumation; a funeral pyre.
3. A fire for execution or killing.

Related terms

• bale-fyre

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

• bala, ball

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaːl(ə)/

Noun

bale (plural bales)

1. A bale (rounded bundle)

Descendants

• English: bale

References

• “bāle, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-19.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
• “bale”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

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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

• 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

References

• Betty Litamahuputty (2012) Ternate Malay: Grammar and Texts

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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

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Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈba.li/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈba.li/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈba.le/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈba.lɨ/, /ˈbal/ [ˈbaɫ]

• 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

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Romanian

Etymology

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

Declension

declension of bale (plural only)

	plural
f gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(niște) bale	balele
genitive/dative	(unor) bale	balelor
vocative

Synonyms

• salivă

Derived terms

• bălos

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Saterland Frisian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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

Verb

bale

1. (intransitive) to speak

Conjugation

Conjugation of bale (irregular)

Grúundfoarme			bale
Infinitive			tou balen
Present tense				Past tense
iek	bale	wie	bale	iek	boalde	wie	boalden
du	boalst	jie	bale	du	boaldest	jie	boalden
hie/ju/dät	boalt	jo	bale	hie/ju/dät	boalde	jo	boalden
Present participle		Imperative		Auxiliary		Past participle
balend		Singular	bale	häbe		boald
		Plural	balet

References

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

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Spanish

Verb

bale

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

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Tagalog

Alternative forms

• bali

Etymology

From Spanish vale, third-person singular present indicative form of valer (“to be worth”), from Old Spanish valer. Compare Chavacano vale.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

bale

1. (colloquial) worth; value (usually used in the negative)
2. promissory note; credit; IOU
3. request of partial advanced payment

Adverb

bale

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

1. (colloquial) valuable; important
2. bought on credit

Derived terms

• bale-bale
• balewala
• balihin
• bumale
• hindi bale
• pabalihin

 

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Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from French ballet.

Noun

bale (definite accusative baleyi, plural baleler)

1. ballet