▪ I. † bale, a. Obs.
Forms: 1 balu, bealu, def. balewe, bealwe, 2–3 bali, 3 balu, beali, bæl, 3–5 bale.
[Common Teut.; = Goth. balws (in compds., as balwa-wesei wickedness, balwjan to plague, torment, balweins torment):—OTeut. *balw-oz.]
1. Actively evil, deadly, dire, pernicious, destructive, fatal, cruel, tormenting.
| Beowulf 1958 Nearwe befongen balwon bendum. a 1000 Cædmon's Satan (Gr.) 484 Swá inc se balewa hét. c 1175 Cott. Hom. 281 Þa buffetes and ta bali duntes þat tu þoledest. 1205 Lay. 5943 To-brokene mid þeon balu fehte. c 1220 St. Marher. 13 Tu..me wið bale bondes bitterliche bindest. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1243 So biten with þe bale hunger. c 1400 Destr. Troy iv. 1388 Bannet worthe the bale tyme þat ho borne was. |
2. subjectively, Sorrowing, mournful, woeful.
| c 1220 Leg. St. Kath. 2367 Nalde ȝe nawt bringe me forð toward blisse wið se bale bere. c 1400 Destr. Troy vi. 2681 Ho brast out with a birre from hir bale hert. |
▪ II. bale, n.1
(beɪl)
Forms: 1 balu, bealu, bealo, gen. beal(o)wes, pl. beal(e)wu, 3 balu, bælu, balw, ballu, baluw, balluw, baleu, balwe, 3 – bale, (4 bal, baal, 5 bael, bayle, 5–6 Sc. baill, bayle, 7 baile).
[Common Teut.: OE. balu, bealu, (gen. bealw-es) = OS. and OFris. balu, OHG. balo, ON. böl:—OTeut. *balw-o(m), the neuter of the prec. adjective; cf. evil, ill, good, as ns. Almost confined to poetry from OE. downwards; in ME. it seems to have derived fresh vitality from the ON. böl, pronounced (bɔl), whence also its alliterative use with bote ‘remedy, relief,’ and bete ‘to relieve.’ More of English origin, perhaps, is its alliterative opposition to bliss. Marked obsolete in dictionaries soon after 1600, and rare thence to the present century, when its undefined vague sense of evil has made it a favourite word with the poets.]
I. Senses.
1. Evil, especially considered in its active operation, as destroying, blasting, injuring, hurting, paining, tormenting; fatal, dire, or malign quality or influence; woe, mischief, harm, injury; in earlier use often = death, infliction of death.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Satan (Gr.) 682 Bealowes gást [= the devil]. a 1000 Ags. Ps. lix. 2 Me wið blodhreowes weres bealuwe ᵹehǽle. 1076 O.E. Chron., Þær wæs þæt bryd ealo, þæt wæs maneᵹra manna bealo. 1205 Lay. 1455 Balu com on ueste. Ibid. 5016 Whet wult þu balwe menge? 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 74 Þe Komyn had his bale, his lif was lightly sold. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6103 That day [of doom], Þe day of bale and of bitternes. c 1340 Alex. & Dind. 163 Þi bestus of bale · þat bi þe water ferde. c 1440 Gesta Rom. (1879) 188, I am worthi al this bale, for I tolde to the woman al my counseill. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Nov. 84 The flouret..buryed long in Winters bale. 1647 Cleveland Smectymn., Caligula, whose pride was Mankinds Baile. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. i. i, Withouten that would come an heavyer bale. 1870 Bryant Homer I. ii. 75 Tidings of bale she brought. |
b. Evil-speaking, abuse.
| c 1220 Leg. St. Kath. 551 Ha tukeð ure godes to balewe & to bismere. |
2. Evil in its passive aspect; physical suffering, torment, pain, woe.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 68 Deuel dwale, Ðat made ilc sorȝe, and euerilc bale. a 1300 Cursor M. 19379 Þat neuer for na bale ne buud. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 477 & lyued in penance..With bodyly bale hym blysse to byye. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 34 And bringe adoun · bale and deþ for euere. c 1460 Frere & Boy in Ritson Anc. Pop. Poetry 35 God that..dranke both eysell and gall, Brynge vs out of bale. 1575 Churchyard Chippes (1817) 211 Borne vnto bale, and subiect to debate. c 1824 Campbell Fragm. Oratorio 37 The bitterness of my bale. 1834 Southey Doctor (1862) 35 Death..calls up a soul from bale, to give an account of his own sufferings. |
3. Mental suffering; misery, sorrow, grief.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 18 My breste in bale bot bolne & bele. c 1400 Melayne 576 For bale hym thoght he brynt. c 1425 Sev. Sages (P.) 258 He that tolde hire that tale, Broght him in mykil bael. 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. ix. 29 Our feeble harts Embost with bale, and bitter byting griefe. 1616 Bullokar, Bale (Now out of vse), Sorrow, great miserie. 1847 Disraeli Tancred ii. i. (1871) 55 Relieve my spirit from the bale that bows it down. |
II. Phrases and locutions:
4. to work bale, bake bale, brew bale: to make mischief, prepare woe or misery.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 257 Bale to breówe. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 55 How falsnes brewes bale with him, and many mo. c 1400 Judicium (1822) 11 Your baill now brewys. |
| c 1460 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 144 Whan þou doest thus, there bale þou bakeste. Ibid. 100 Y am worsse than wode Myn owne bale for to brewe. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 37 To work hir bale. |
5. Opposed alliteratively to bliss, blithe.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 373 My blysse, my bale ȝe han ben boþe. c 1400 St. Alexius (Trin.) 140 Hire blesse turnde to Bale. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fables 19 Be blith in baill, for that is best remead. c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 337 Now lycht, now sadd, now blissful, now in baill. 1576 Gascoigne Princely Pleas. (1821) 33 And turn your present bliss to after bales. 1598 Yong Diana 440 That still deducts my life in blisselesse bale. 1797 Coleridge Christabel i, Her face resigned to bliss or bale. 1876 Lowell Poet Wks. (1879) 468/2 Was it a comet or star; Omen of blessing or bale? |
6. Opposed to boot (ME. bote) ‘relief, remedy,’ and bete vb. ‘to relieve, mend.’ So in Icel., böl og bót ‘bale and boot,’ bölva bætr ‘boots of bales.’
| c 1275 Luue Ron 125 in O.E. Misc. 97 Þar-inne is vich balewes bóte. a 1300 Cursor M. 44 Quedur þai be worthi or bale or bote. Ibid. 105 All vr balis for to bete. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 208 Hit is a botles bale. c 1420 Sir Amadace iv, That myȝte not bete my bale! c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. (1863) 183 Than brynge hym to his bed, his bales there to bete. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 28 Thank we that fre, Beytter of baylle. 1488 Chevy Chase in Maidment Scot. Bal. (1861) I. 80 Ihesue Crist our ballys bete And to the blys us brynge. 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) ii. xix. 157/2 The holy ghoost..is bote of euery bale. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 52 This rather bryngeth bale then boote. 1565 J. Hall Hist. Expost. 34 Oure boote mixed wyth bale. 1867 G. Macdonald Poems 144 Where he had found Boot for every bale |
7. Proverbs. Cf. Icel. þegar böl er hæst er bót næst ‘when bale is highest boot is nighest,’ etc.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 687 Hwon þe bale is alre hecst Þonne is þe bote alre necst. a 1300 Cursor M. 4775 Quen þe bal ys alder hext þen sum time ys bote next. c 1330 Florice & Bl. 858 After bale hem com bote. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. v. 88 Betere ys þat bote · bale a-doun brynge, Than bale be ybete · and bote neuere þe betere. c 1400 Test. Love ii. (1560) 288 b/1 When bale is greatest then is bote a nie bore. c 1430 Syr Gener. 3328 Aftre bale euer cometh bote. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 38 Comforte your selfe with this old text..when bale is hekst, boote is next. a 1600 Sir Aldingar 177 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 171 When Bale is att hyest, boote is att next. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 524 Bettered is bale by bale that follows it, The saw saith. |
8. Comb. † bale-sithe [OE. bealu-s{iacu}ð, f. sið expedition, adventure, fortune, lot], death, destruction; evil-doing, mischief; evil fortune, calamity. † bale-stour [stour tumult, battle], fatal struggle, death-throe. The OE. poetical compounds were very numerous, e.g. bealu-cræft magic art, bealu dǽd sin, bealu-ráp deadly rope, bealu-spell fatal news, bealu-þanc malicious thought.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Ex. (Gr.) 5 æfter bealus{iacu}ðe. c 1175 Lamb Hom. 185 Al imengd wiþ balewsið and wiþ bitternesse. c 1200 Saloman & Sat. (1848) 236 Þat he ne solde þe upbreidin of þine balesiþes. 1205 Lay. 567 Iwenden toward Brutun to his bale-siðe. Ibid. 651 & abat his bale-siðes. c 1220 St. Marher. 23 Lif þat a lesteð buten balesið. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. C. 426 Bed me bilyue my bale stour, & bryng me on ende. |
▪ III. bale, n.2
(beɪl)
Forms: 1 bæ̂l, 4– bale; (Sc. 4 baile, 5 belle, 6 baill, bele, 8 beal, 5– bail).
[Comm. Teut., though known only in OE. bǽl and ON. bál great fire, blazing pile, funeral pyre:—OTeut. bāl-o(m), cogn. with Skr. bhālas lustre, Gr. ϕαλός shining, bright. In ME. and mod.E. almost exclusively northern, and app. from ON. bál rather than OE. bǽl, which would have given mod. beal, beel. By later writers much mixed up with the preceding word: see 3. Cf. also bale-fire.]
† 1. gen. A great consuming fire, a conflagration; a blazing pile, a bonfire. Obs.
[An immense bonfire of faggots and boughs, formerly (until c 1840) kindled annually in November on the village green of Denholm in Roxburghshire, was called the Bale or Bowa-bale.]
| a 1000 Beowulf 4633 Befangen bæle and bronde. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 619 Thai flaggatis byrnand in a baill. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. xv, I brenne as a belle. 1557 Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 266 Such heat..As Priamus towne felt not more flame, when did the bale begin. a 1600 Christis Kirk Gr. xxiii, And brane-wode brynt in bailis. |
2. spec. a. A funeral pile or pyre. (Long obs., but used by W. Morris.)
| a 1000 Beowulf 2223 Betst beado-rinca wæs on bæl ᵹearu. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 667 To brenne the body In a bale of fiir. 1876 Morris Sigurd iii. 305 Far out in the people's meadows they raise a bale on high..and thereon shall the mighty lie. |
b. A signal- or beacon-fire. (Sc.) arch.
| 1455 Act. 12 Jas. II (1597) §48 The quhilkis..sal make taikenings be bailes burning & fire. Ane Baile, is warning of their cumminge..twa bailes togidder at anis, they are cumming in deed. 1513 Douglas æneis ii. vi. (v.) 13 The taknyng or the bail [v.r. bele] of fire. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 151 Richt mony fyre and balis gart burne brycht; And mony blast gart blaw of buglis horne. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. iii. xxvii, On Penchryst glows a bale of fire, And three are kindling on Priesthaughswire. |
3. fig. Sometimes confused with bale n.1
| 1568 Lauder Lament. 81 My breist in baill it dois combure. 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. ix. 16 He strove to cloak his inward bale And hide the smoke that did his fire display. |
▪ IV. bale, n.3
(beɪl)
Forms: 4– bale (6 balle, 6–8 ball), 7 bayl, 7–8 bail.
[ME. bale, perh. a. OF. bale, balle, = Pr. and Sp. bala, It. balla, palla, med.L. bala, balla, ‘ball’ and ‘rounded package,’ generally taken to be an adoption of OHG. balla, palla, ball (ball n.1); though some refer it to Gr. πάλλα ball. But the Eng. may be immediately from Flemish bale (mod.Du. baal) ‘bale,’ itself adopted from F. or other Romanic lang. Bale and ball have from the first been distinct in Eng., though ball (for F. balle) is occasional in this sense in 17–18th c.]
1. A large bundle or package of merchandise, originally of more or less rounded shape; now, spec. a package closely pressed, done up in canvas or other wrapping, and tightly corded or hooped with copper or iron, for transportation.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. C. 57 Busy ouer-borde bale to kest. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 4201 Þay fulde sakkes, & trossede males, To Charyotes þay drowen þe grete bales. a 1400 Cov. Myst. 210 Of spicery ther growyth many an C. balys. 1540 Act. 32 Hen. VIII, xiiii, A bale of saies of vi. fote high. 1695 W. Lowndes Amendm. Silv. Coins 6 The Merchants..concealed the Parcels in Bails of Cloth. 1755 Mem. Capt. P. Drake II. iii. 59 Putting the Bails on board. 1765 Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 416 Known to put false marks upon their bales. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xiii, As tho' they brought but merchants' bales. |
2. (Used with more or less precision as a measure of quantity.)
| 1502 Arnolds Chron. (1811) 206 A balle bokrom conteyneth lx. pecis..a balle fustian conteyneth xlv. half peces. 1740 Mem. Turkey in Hanway Trav. (1762) I. i. viii. 40 A reduction of their Custom..to thirty dollars the bale of twenty pieces. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., A bale or ballon of crown paper..consists of 14 reams. 1863 Bright Amer., Sp. 30 June (1876) 138 To grow one thousand bales of cotton a year. 1880 W. Whiteley Diary & Alm. 82 Bale of coffee (Mocha) = 2 to 2½ cwt. |
3. attrib. and Comb. bale-sack; bale-band (see quot.); bale-cloth U.S., cloth used for covering bales; bale-goods, merchandise in bales: as opposed to case-goods; bale-sling (see quot. 1891).
| 1891 H. Patterson Naut. Dict., Bale-band, a big shackle-shaped iron at the mast-head, supported by the cap-band, and to which the standing part of the flying jib-stay is bent on. |
| 1797 B. Hawkins Let. in Georgia Hist. Soc. Coll. (1916) IX. 346, 8 yds. bale cloth to Harry Dergin, at 12½c., $1.00. 1865 Trans. Ill. Agric. Soc. V. 159 We have pressed the sirup from the sugar through fine bale-cloth. |
| 1694 Lond. Gaz. No. 3032/3 Bound with Glass and Bale Goods..for Bourdeaux. 1790 Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. I. 217 Her cargo consisted of cordage and bale goods. 1800 Asiatic Ann. Reg. III. 41/2 One of the above ships had on board a very valuable cargo of bale goods. 1894 Idler Sept. 135 The original freight of the ship had been bale goods. |
| 1883 Century Mag. Oct. 817/2 This man flung them into an enormous bale-sack, swinging wide-mouthed from a derrick. |
| 1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys 93 There are several methods of slinging a cask, either with a pair of butt slings, bale slings, or a bowline knot. 1891 H. Patterson Naut. Dict., Bale-sling, a simple strap passed round a bale or bag, the two ends meeting on top, one dipping under the other. |
† 4. The set of dice for any special game, formerly usually three. Obs.
| 1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. 327 Paid to Jeffery for a bale of dysse iiiijd. 1577 Holinshed Chron. III. 848/2 Diuerse bales of dice, and..certeine paires of cards. 1578 Richmond. Wills (1853) 277, Iij ball of dyce, ixd. 1614 J. Cooke Tu Quoque in Dodsl. VII. 50 (N.) A pox upon these dice! give's a fresh bale. 1632 Rowley Woman never vexed ii. i. in Hazl. Dodsl. XXI. 121 Give's a bale of dice! [They play at ‘Passage’ and throw] Two treys and an ace, Two quatres and a trey. 1680 Cotton Compl. Gamester in Singer Hist. Playing Cards 336 They [loaded dice] are sold in many places about the town; price current..eight shillings, whereas an ordinary bale is sold for sixpence. 1822 Scott Nigel xxiii, The Captain, taking a bale of dice from the sleeve of his coat. |
† 5. ? A bolus, a pill = ball n.1 11. Obs.
| 1576 Baker Gesner's Jewell Health 183 b, I gave..to a melancholy person..five graynes..in a bale or dose. |
▪ V. † bale, v.1 Obs. rare—1.
[a. OF. baler (since 16th c. baller) to dance (= Pr. balar, It. ballare, Sp., Pg. bailar):—late L. (Isidore) ballāre to dance. Some think the L. formed from Gr. βαλλίζειν to dance, some f. balla ball n.1, on the alleged ground that, in the Middle Ages, tennis was accompanied with dancing and song.]
To dance.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 13138 His broþer doghter..Com þaim be-for al for to bale, Baled wel and tumbel wit-al. |
▪ VI. bale, v.2
(beɪl)
[f. bale n.3]
1. To make up into a bale or bales.
| 1760 Goldsm. Cit. W. v, These goods are baled up and consigned to a factor abroad. 1879 T. H. S. Escott England I. 224 The cotton itself has been..baled, and sent down to the seaport. |
2. to bale out. [Usually so spelt, as if the action were that of letting a bundle through a trapdoor; but also (esp. U.S.) as bail, as if a use of bail v.4, to lade out.] intr. (Of an airman) to make an emergency descent by parachute from his machine. Hence also (rare) n. bail-out. orig. U.S.
| 1930 C. J. V. Murphy Parachute 272 Some say the pilot ‘bailed out’ the moment he went into the spin. 1932 N.Y. Times 11 Apr. 3/2 He successfully bailed out of an airplane at an elevation of 1,500 feet. 1939 F. D. Tredrey Pilot's Summer 28 If you bale out and land in water..a smart rap will release the whole lot and you can swim free. 1940 Times 15 Aug. 4/2 He baled out before his machine crashed. 1955 Sci. News Let. 8 Jan. 23 The purpose..was to explore human tolerances during a high speed bailout from jet planes. |
▪ VII. bale, v.3
(beɪl)
[Erroneous spelling of bail v.4, q.v.]
To lade or throw water out of a boat or ship with buckets (formerly called bails) or other vessels. Const. to bale the water out, bale the boat (out). to bale up: to scoop up. See bail v.4
| [1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. vi. 27 To baile or cast out the water.] 1692 Ibid. i. xvi. 75 To Bale, to lade Water out of the Ships Hold with Buckets, or the like. 1748 Anson Voy. iii. v. 342 In baling out the water. 1833 Marryat Perc. Keene xvi, Let's bale the boat out first. 1884 Graphic 23 Aug. 190/2 Herrings..in such surprising quantities that they can be baled up with a basket. |
▪ VIII. bale
obs. spelling of bail n. and v.; improperly for bail n.2 handle; and obs. f. belly.