▪ I. † hele, v.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 helan (2nd sing. hilest, 3rd sing. hilþ), 2–3 heole(n, 2–4 hele (2nd sing. hilest), (3 hale), 4 hel. pa. tense 1 hæl, pl. hǽlon, 4 hal. pa. pple. 1 holen (Bosw.), 3 iholen, 4 holn, hole, ihole.
[Com. Teut. str. vb. of ablaut series hel-, hal-, hul- (hol-): OE. helan, hæl, hǽlon, holen = OFris. hela, OS., OHG. helan (MLG., MDu., Du. hēlen, MHG. heln, Ger. hehlen) to hide, conceal, cover up; Aryan root kel- in L. celāre to hide, oc-cul-ĕre to hide, Gr. καλ-ύπτειν to hide. (See note below.) The present stem of this strong vb. blended in ME. with that of the derivative OE. hęlian (see next), so that the strong inflexions did not survive the 14th c. Weak inflexions occur beside the strong in MDu. helen, and alone in MLG., mod.Ger., and Du.]
trans. To hide, conceal; to keep secret.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xxxix. 11 [xl.] 10 Ne hel ic mildheortnisse ðine..from ᵹesomnunge micelre. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. vi. xxxiii. §2 He hit hæl swiþe fæste wið his broðor. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 57 Ne þu naᵹest for to stele ne nan þef þe for to heole. a 1200 Moral Ode 161 in Trin. Coll. Hom. 225 Al sal þar ben þanne cuð þat men luȝen her and halen. a 1225 Ancr. R. 146 Ȝif þi god dede were iholen. c 1230 Hali Meid. 47 Ȝif þu wel hiles te under godes wenges. a 1300 Cursor M. 28135 Ic ha þam holn al wit my pride. 1340 Ayenb. 26 Þe kueades þet were y-hole and yroted ine þe herte. 13.. K. Alis. 4203 My coppe thow hast y-stole, And undur thy barm hole. |
[Note. The Teutonic ablaut-series hel-, hal-, hæ̂l, hul- (hol-), has an extensive family of derivatives:
I. From e grade: OE. helan, hele v.1, hele n.; helm1.
II. From a grade (with umlaut): *haljan, OE. hęlian, hele v.2; Goth. halja, OE. hęl(l), hell n.
III. From u(o) grade: OE. hulu, hull ‘husk’; OE. hol, Sc. holl, howe ‘hollow’; OE. hol, hole; hollow a., n., v.
IV. From u grade (with umlaut): Goth. huljan, OE. *hyllan, ON. hylja, ME. hyll, hule, hile, hill v.]
▪ II. hele, heal, v.2 Obs. exc. dial.
(hiːl)
Forms: 1 helian, 2–4 helie(n, 2–5 hele, 4–5 heyle, Sc. heile, 4–7 hell(e, 5 heele, Sc. heill, 6–9 heal, 7 heale, 8– heel, 9 hele. pa. tense 1 -ode, 2–4 -ede, 3–5 -ed, 4 helled, heild, Sc. helit, heylyt, 4–5 helet(e, 6–9 healed. pa. pple. 3 ihæled, iheoled, 3–5 (i)heled, -id, -yd, yheled, 4 Sc. helit, 5 -ud, -ut, 6–9 healed.
[OE. hęlian, a later form of hęllan (Sievers, ed. 2. §400. 2) = OS. bi-helljan, OHG. bi-hellen:—*haljan, f. ablaut stem hal- of helan: see prec. etym. and note.]
† 1. trans. To hide, conceal; to keep secret. Obs.
| c 975 Canons Edgar §47 in Thorpe Anc. Laws II. 254 Ðæt æniᵹ ᵹehadod man his sceare ne heliᵹe. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xxxviii. 15 Heo helode hire nebb. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 197 Þat heued þat he helede. a 1225 Ancr. R. 410 Mei ich..helien Abraham þing þet ich þenche uorto donne? 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 373 Syne [thai] it helit weill eneuch. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxxiii. 129 (Harl. MS.) Hele the cors of this dede man in some prive place of thin house. c 1440 Bone Flor. 989 They made them to swere they schulde be lele, And syr Emers counsell heyle. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 189 b/2 But the preest alwey heled his synne. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xviii. 35 Heill nor conceill, reset nane of thay lownis. ? 16.. Bold Burnet's Dau. ix. in Child Ballads ii. lii. (1884) 453/2 Although I would heal it neer sae well, Our God above does see. |
† b. absol. or intr. To practise concealment, keep a secret, keep silence. Obs.
| 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 351 No longer hele y nille, Al that soþe tellen y wille. c 1400 Rom. Rose 2522 To hele wel is no folye. c 1450 Erle Tolous 1034 The abbot seyde..that he wolde hele, And ellys he were wode. |
2. To cover, cover in. Still in local use, esp. in senses (a) to cover (roots, seeds, etc.) with earth; (b) to cover with slates or tiles, to roof.
| a. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 195 Anes kinnes neddres is þe mid hire lichame heleð hire heued þane he beð of harme offered. Ibid. 197 Þat heued þat he helede wið þe deules eginge. c 1205 Lay. 18405 Heo leggeð i þissen felden Ihæled [c 1275 iheled] in heore telden. 1375 Barbour Bruce ix. 128 Snaw had helit all the land. c 1400 Three Kings Cologne 52 Derkenes schulle heele þe erþe. 1497 Will of Dynham (Somerset Ho.), A Matynsbooke helid with purpill veluet. 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 42 When his [the lion's] necke and shoulders be healed with heare and mayne. 1625 Ussher Answ. Jesuit 287 In this Countrie, with them that retaine the ancient language..to hell the dead, is as much as to cover the dead. 1674 Ray S. & E.C. Words, Heal, to cover; Suss. As, ‘to heal the fire’; ‘to heal a house’; ‘to heal a person in bed’. 1773 W. Tadman in R. Dossie Mem. Agric. (1782) III. 102 [It] destroys the small weeds, lets in the earth, and heels the seeds. 1861 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XXII. ii. 275 At the time of earthing the potatoes by the double mould-plough, turnip seed is sown, and thus ‘heled’. |
| b. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 17 Brent tyle to hele wiþ hous and cherches. 1393 Lang. P. Pl. C. viii. 237 Alle þe houses beþ heled..With no lede, bote with loue. 1458 Yatton Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 100 It. for a Plomer to hely the batylmente for the styple. 1674 [see prec.]. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 275 They Rip, and Heal, and Counter-lath, for 3s. per Square. 1894 [see next]. |
Hence heled ppl. a., covered, roofed.
| c 1400 Three Kings Cologne 23 A strete þat þan was clepede þe couerid or þe helid strete. 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. xxxii. 46 Olde tyled, or stone healed houses. 1894 W. Sussex County Times 5 May 4/2 For Sale, a Block of Four Freehold Brick-built Slate-healed Modern Cottages. |
▪ III. hele, n. Obs. exc. dial.
[f. hele v., in various senses.]
† a. ? Concealment. (OE.) † b. A hiding-place (obs.). c. Cover (dial.).
| a 1000 Inst. Polity xii. in Thorpe Anc. Laws II. 320 Hi..mid yfelan helan earme men beswicað. 13.. K. Alis. 4959 Ac from her frendes hy stelen An gon to wode and maken hem helen, And crepen thereinne. 1894 Blackmore Perlycross III. 106 The man..had gone home..keeping under hele with his oilskins on. |
▪ IV. hele
obs. f. hale a., heal n. and v., heel n.1