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ale
7 dictionary results for: Ale
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ale       [eyl] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.a malt beverage, darker, heavier, and more bitter than beer, containing about 6 percent alcohol by volume.
2.British. beer.

[Origin: bef. 950; ME; OE (e)alu (gen. ealoth); c. OS alo-, MD ale, ael, ON ǫl; Lith alùs, OCS olŭ; Finnish, Estonian olut; areal word of North Europe]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
A.L.E.
Insurance.
additional living expense.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ale       (āl)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. A fermented alcoholic beverage containing malt and hops, similar to but heavier than beer.
  2. A serving of this beverage.


[Middle English, from Old English ealu, alu; see alu- in Indo-European roots.]

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ale 
O.E. ealu "ale, beer," from P.Gmc. *aluth- (cf. O.S. alo, O.N. öl), perhaps from PIE root meaning "bitter" (cf. L. alumen "alum"), or from PIE *alu-t "ale," from base *alu-, a word with connotations of "sorcery, magic, possession, intoxication." The word was borrowed from Gmc. into Lith. (alus) and O.C.S. (olu). Ale and beer were synonymous until growing of hops began in England early 15c.
"[A]t present 'beer' is in the trade the generic name for all malt liquor

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
ale

noun
a general name for beer made with a top fermenting yeast; in some of the United States an ale is (by law) a brew of more than 4% alcohol by volume 

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ale

Ale\ ([=a]l), n. [AS. ealu, akin to Icel., Sw., and Dan. ["o]l, Lith. alus a kind of beer, OSlav. ol[u^] beer. Cf. Ir. ol drink, drinking.]

1. An intoxicating liquor made from an infusion of malt by fermentation and the addition of a bitter, usually hops.

Note: The word ale, in England and the United States, usually designates a heavier kind of fermented liquor, and the word beer a lighter kind. The word beer is also in common use as the generic name for all malt liquors.

2. A festival in English country places, so called from the liquor drunk. "At wakes and ales." --B. Jonson."On ember eves and holy ales." --Shak.

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