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Definition of pale - 16 dictionary results

pale

1 [peyl]

adjective, pal⋅er, pal⋅est, verb, paled, pal⋅ing.

Use pale in a Sentence

–adjective

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)

5.	to make or become pale: to pale at the sight of blood.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME < MF < L pallidus pallid

Related forms:

palely, adverb

paleness, noun

Synonyms:
1. Pale, pallid, wan imply an absence of color, esp. 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.

pale

2 [peyl]

noun, verb, paled, pal⋅ing.

–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)

9.	to enclose with pales; fence.

10.	to encircle or encompass.

—Idiom

11.	beyond the pale, beyond the limits of propriety, courtesy, protection, safety, etc.: Their public conduct is certainly beyond the pale.

Origin:
1300–50; ME (north), OE pāl < L pālus stake. See peel ³ , pole ¹

pale-

var. of paleo- before most vowels: paleethnology.

Also, especially British, palae-.

paleo-

a combining form meaning “old” or “ancient,” esp. in reference to former geologic time periods, used in the formation of compound words: paleobotany.

Also, pale-, especially British, palae-, palaeo-.

Origin:
< Gk palaio-, comb. form of palaiós

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To pale

pale¹ (pāl)

A stake or pointed stick; a picket.
A fence enclosing an area.
The area enclosed by a fence or boundary.
1. A region or district lying within an imposed boundary or constituting a separate jurisdiction.
2. Pale The medieval dominions of the English in Ireland. Used with the.
Heraldry A wide vertical band in the center of an escutcheon.

tr.v. paled, pal·ing, pales
To enclose with pales; fence in.

[Middle English, from Old French pal, from Latin pālus; see pag- in Indo-European roots.]

pale² (pāl)

adj. pal·er, pal·est

Whitish in complexion; pallid.
1. Of a low intensity of color; light.
2. Having high lightness and low saturation.
Of a low intensity of light; dim or faint: "a late afternoon sun coming through the el tracks and falling in pale oblongs on the cracked, empty sidewalks" (Jimmy Breslin).
Feeble; weak: a pale rendition of the aria.

v.   paled, pal·ing, pales

v.   tr.
To cause to turn pale.
v.   intr.

To become pale; blanch: paled with fright.
To decrease in relative importance.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pallidus, from pallēre, to be pale; see pel-¹ in Indo-European roots.]
pale'ly adv., pale'ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Pale

Pale\, a. [Compar. Paler; superl. Palest.] [F. p[^a]le, fr. p[^a]lir to turn pale, L. pallere to be o? look pale. Cf. Appall, Fallow, pall, v. 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. --Shak.

Note: Pale is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, pale-colored, pale-eyed, pale-faced, pale-looking, etc.

Pale

Pale\, n. Paleness; pallor. [R.] --Shak.

Pale

Pale\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Paled; p. pr. & vb. n. Paling.] To turn pale; to lose color or luster. --Whittier.

Apt to pale at a trodden worm. --Mrs. Browning.

Pale

Pale\, v. t. To make pale; to diminish the brightness of.

The glow?worm shows the matin to be near, And gins to pale his uneffectual fire. --Shak.

Pale

Pale\, n. [F. pal, fr. L. palus: cf. D. paal. See Pol? a stake, and lst 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.

4. A stripe or band, as on a garment. --Chaucer.

5. (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.

6. A cheese scoop. --Simmonds.

7. (Shipbuilding) A shore for bracing a timber before it is fastened.

English pale (Hist.), the limits or territory within which alone the English conquerors of Ireland held dominion for a long period after their invasion of the country in 1172. --Spencer.

Pale

Pale\, v. 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. --Shak.

Language Translation for : pale

Spanish: pálido,

German: blaß,

Japanese: 青ざめた

More Translations »

pale (adj.)

c.1300, from O.Fr. paile, from L. pallidus "pale, pallid, wan," from pallere "be pale, grow pale," from PIE *pol-/*pel- (see pallor). The verb is first recorded c.1300. Pale-face, supposed N.Amer. Indian word for "European," is attested from 1822.

pale (n.)

c.1330, "fence of pointed stakes," from L. palus "stake," related to pangere "to fix or fasten" (see pact). Fig. 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 1547.

Main Entry: pale
Pronunciation: 'pA(&)l
Function: adjective
Inflected Forms: pal·er; pal·est
: deficient in color orintensity of color pale face> —pale·ness /-n&s/ noun

pale

see beyond the pale.

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