gale

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡeɪl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪl
• Homophone: Gail

Etymology 1

From Middle English galen, from Old English galan (“to sing, enchant, call, cry, scream; sing charms, practice incantation”), from Proto-Germanic *galaną (“to roop, sing, charm”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (“to shout, scream, charm away”). Cognate with Danish gale (“to crow”), Swedish gala (“to crow”), Icelandic gala (“to sing, chant, crow”), Dutch galm (“echo, sound, noise”). Related to yell.

Verb

gale (third-person singular simple present gales, present participle galing, simple past galed or gole, past participle galed or galen)

1. (intransitive, now chiefly dialectal) To cry; groan; croak.
2. (intransitive, of a person, now chiefly dialectal) To talk.
3. (transitive, now chiefly dialectal) To sing; utter with musical modulations.

Etymology 2

From Middle English gale (“a wind, breeze”), possibly from Old English galan, possibly an unknown North Germanic origin, related to Icelandic gola (“a breeze”), Danish gal (“furious, mad”), both from Old Norse gala (“to sing”), and thus ultimately related to the above word (etymology 1).

Noun

gale (plural gales)

1. (meteorology) A very strong wind, more than a breeze, less than a storm; number 7 through to 9 winds on the 12-step Beaufort scale.

   It's blowing a gale outside.

   Many parts of the boat were damaged in the gale.

   • 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xii:

     With my mother's permission and blessings, I set off exultantly for Bombay, leaving my wife with a baby of a few months. But on arrival there, friends told my brother that the Indian Ocean was rough in June and July, and as this was my first voyage, I should not be allowed to sail until November. Someone also reported that a steamer had just been sunk in a gale. This made my brother uneasy, and he refused to take the risk of allowing me to sail immediately.

2. An outburst, especially of laughter.

   a gale of laughter

   • 1972, International Association of Seed Crushers, Congress :

     The slightest hint of smugness would have had the nation leaning over our shoulders to blow out the birthday candles with a gale of reproach and disapproval.

3. (literary, archaic) A light breeze.
   • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     A little gale will soon disperse that cloud.

   • 1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: J. M for John Starkey , →OCLC:

     And winds of gentlest gale Arabian odours fanned / From their soft wings.

Coordinate terms

• (meteorology): breeze, hurricane, storm

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Beaufort scale

Verb

gale (third-person singular simple present gales, present participle galing, simple past and past participle galed)

1. (nautical) To sail, or sail fast.

Etymology 3

From Middle English gaile, gawl, gawwyl, gaȝel, gagel, from Old English gagel, gagelle, gagille, gagolle (“gale; sweet gale”), from Proto-Germanic *gagulaz (“gale; sweet-willow”). Cognate with Scots gaul, gall (“bog-myrtle”), Dutch gagel (“wild mytle”), German Gagel (“mytle-bush”), Icelandic gaglviður (“sweet-gale; myrtle”).

Noun

gale

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Myrica gale

Wikipedia

1. A shrub, also called sweet gale or bog myrtle (Myrica gale), that grows on moors and fens.

Translations

Etymology 4

From Middle English gavel (“rent; tribute”), from Old English gafol.

Noun

gale (plural gales)

1. (archaic) A periodic payment, such as is made of a rent or annuity.

   Gale day - the day on which rent or interest is due.

References

• “gale”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Gael, Lega, egal, geal, lage, leag

Afar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaˈle/,
• Hyphenation: ga‧le

Noun

galé f 

1. corner

Declension

References

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “gale”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN

Awtuw

Noun

gale

1. fish

   Nan gale tek-nak-ey po.

   We've been catching fish.

References

• Harry Feldman. A Grammar of Awtuw. (Pacific Linguistics: Series B, 94.) (1986)

Basque

Noun

gale

1. eagerness

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaːlə/,

Etymology 1

From Old Norse to sing, crow, chant, from Proto-Germanic *galaną, cognate with Norwegian gale, Swedish gala, English gale.

Verb

gale (past tense galede, or (archaic) gol, past participle galet)

1. to crow (mostly of the sound of the cock)
2. to scream

Conjugation

References

• “gale” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

gale

1. definite singular of gal
2. plural of gal

French

Etymology

Variant of galle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡal/

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

Noun

gale f (plural gales)

1. scabies; mange

Derived terms

• galeux

Further reading

• “gale”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• égal, Gaël, gela

Galician

Verb

gale

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

Italian

Noun

gale f

1. plural of gala

Anagrams

• Gela, Lega, gela, lega

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse gala.

Verb

gale (imperative gal, present tense galer, simple past gol or galte, past participle galt)

1. to make a sound characteristic of a rooster; to crow

Etymology 2

Adjective

gale

1. definite singular of gal
2. plural of gal

References

• “gale” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Verb

gale (present tense gjel, past tense gol, supine gale, past participle galen, present participle galande, imperative gal)

1. Alternative form of gala

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• galent

Adjective

gale

1. neuter singular of galen

Anagrams

• alge, egal, egla, lage, lega

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡa.lɛ/
• Rhymes: -alɛ
• Syllabification: ga‧le
• Homophones: Gale, galę

Noun

gale

1. dative/locative singular of gała

Noun

gale

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of gala

Portuguese

Verb

gale

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

Turkish

Etymology 1

Unknown

Noun

gale (definite accusative galeyi, plural galeler)

1. (Antalya) Synonym of sincap (“squirrel”)

References

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “gale¹”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 2, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 1633

Etymology 2

Noun

gale (definite accusative galeyi, plural galeler)

1. (dialect) Alternative form of kale

References

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “gale²”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 2, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 1633

Etymology 3

From Ottoman Turkish غاله (gale), from French galée.

Noun

gale (definite accusative galeyi, plural galeler)

1. (printing) galley

References

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “gale⁶”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 2, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 1633
• Avery, Robert et al., editors (2013), The Redhouse Dictionary Turkish/Ottoman English, 21st edition, Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık, →ISBN