pale1

[peyl] /peɪl/
adjective, paler, palest.
1.
lacking intensity of color; colorless or whitish:
a pale complexion.
2.
of a low degree of chroma, saturation, or purity; approaching white or gray:
pale yellow.
3.
not bright or brilliant; dim:
the pale moon.
4.
faint or feeble; lacking vigor:
a pale protest.
verb (used without object), verb (used with object), paled, paling.
5.
to make or become pale:
to pale at the sight of blood.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English < Middle French < Latin pallidus pallid
Related forms
palely, adverb
paleness, noun
Synonyms
1. Pale, pallid, wan imply an absence of color, especially from the human countenance. Pale implies a faintness or absence of color, which may be natural when applied to things, the pale blue of a violet, but when used to refer to the human face usually means an unnatural and often temporary absence of color, as arising from sickness or sudden emotion: pale cheeks. Pallid , limited mainly to the human countenance, implies an excessive paleness induced by intense emotion, disease, or death: the pallid lips of the dying man. Wan implies a sickly paleness, as after a long illness: wan and thin; the suggestion of weakness may be more prominent than that of lack of color: a wan smile. 5. blanch, whiten.
Antonyms
1. ruddy. 5. darken.

pale2

[peyl] /peɪl/
noun
1.
a stake or picket, as of a fence.
2.
an enclosing or confining barrier; enclosure.
3.
an enclosed area.
4.
limits; bounds:
outside the pale of his jurisdiction.
5.
a district or region within designated bounds.
6.
(initial capital letter). Also called English Pale, Irish Pale. a district in eastern Ireland included in the Angevin Empire of King Henry II and his successors.
7.
an ordinary in the form of a broad vertical stripe at the center of an escutcheon.
8.
Shipbuilding. a shore used inside to support the deck beams of a hull under construction.
verb (used with object), paled, paling.
9.
to enclose with pales; fence.
10.
to encircle or encompass.
Idioms
11.
beyond the pale, beyond the limits of propriety, courtesy, protection, safety, etc.:
Their public conduct is certainly beyond the pale.
Origin
1300-50; Middle English (north), Old English pāl < Latin pālus stake. See peel3, pole1

pale-

1.
variant of paleo- before most vowels:
paleethnology.
Also, especially British, palae-.
Examples from the web for pale
  • pale light seeped in from a sun rising somewhere out of sight.
  • Ferny, pale yellowish green leaves are light sensitive and fold at night.
  • The bill is generally bulky and long and ranges from gray to pale horn in color.
  • Back gray, below pale whitish gray with darker flanks, white or sometimes yellowish vent.
  • Blossoms typically deepen in color after opening, so clusters contain both pale and darker blooms.
  • The lupulins vary in color from a pale to a deep yellow.
  • In a large bowl or blender, beat or whirl eggs until light and pale.
  • They are astonishing, those eyes: pale and opalescent, with vagrant beams of light glancing from the corneas.
  • His pale skin was illuminated by a single light, and he had thrown back his head and closed his eyes.
  • pale ales satisfy, without drawing attention to themselves.
British Dictionary definitions for pale

pale1

/peɪl/
adjective
1.
lacking brightness of colour; whitish: pale morning light
2.
(of a colour) whitish; produced by a relatively small quantity of colouring agent
3.
dim or wan: the pale stars
4.
feeble: a pale effort
5.
(South African) a euphemism for White
verb
6.
to make or become pale or paler; blanch
7.
(intransitive) often foll by before. to lose superiority or importance (in comparison to): her beauty paled before that of her hostess
Derived Forms
palely, adverb
paleness, noun
Word Origin
C13: from Old French palle, from Latin pallidus pale, from pallēre to look wan

pale2

/peɪl/
noun
1.
a wooden post or strip used as an upright member in a fence
2.
an enclosing barrier, esp a fence made of pales
3.
an area enclosed by a pale
4.
a sphere of activity within which certain restrictions are applied
5.
(heraldry) an ordinary consisting of a vertical stripe, usually in the centre of a shield
6.
beyond the pale, outside the limits of social convention
verb
7.
(transitive) to enclose with pales
Word Origin
C14: from Old French pal, from Latin pālus stake; compare pole1

palea

/ˈpeɪlɪə/
noun (botany) (pl) paleae (ˈpeɪlɪˌiː), pales
1.
the inner of two bracts surrounding each floret in a grass spikelet Compare lemma1
2.
any small membranous bract or scale
Derived Forms
paleaceous (ˌpeɪlɪˈeɪʃəs) adjective
Word Origin
C18: from Latin: straw, chaff; see pallet1
Word Origin and History for pale
adj.

early 14c., from Old French paile "pale, light-colored" (12c., Modern French pâle), from Latin pallidus "pale, pallid, wan, colorless," from pallere "be pale, grow pale," from PIE *pel- (2) "pale" (see pallor). Pale-face, supposed North American Indian word for "European," is attested from 1822.

n.

early 13c. (c.1200 in Anglo-Latin), "stake, pole, stake for vines," from Old French pal and directly from Latin palus "stake, prop, wooden post," related to pangere "to fix or fasten" (see pact).

From late 14c. as "fence of pointed stakes;" figurative sense of "limit, boundary, restriction" is from c.1400. Barely surviving in beyond the pale and similar phrases. Meaning "the part of Ireland under English rule" is from 1540s, via sense of "territory held by power of a nation or people" (mid-15c.).

v.

late 14c., "become pale; appear pale" (also, in Middle English, "to make pale"), from Old French paleir (12c.) or from pale (adj.). Related: Paled; paling.

Idioms and Phrases with pale

pale

see: beyond the pale