pale

¹

[peyl]

adjective

paler, palest 

1. (of a person or a person's skin)

   1. light-colored or lacking in color.

      a pale complexion; his pale face; a pale child.

   2. lacking the usual intensity of color due to fear, illness, stress, etc..

      She looked pale and unwell when we visited her in the nursing home.

   Antonyms: ruddy

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)

paled, paling 

1. to become pale.

   to pale at the sight of blood.

   Synonyms: fade, whiten, blench, blanch
   Antonyms: deepen

2. to seem less important, remarkable, etc., especially when compared with something else.

   Platinum is so rare that even gold pales in comparison.

verb (used with object)

1. to make pale.

pale

²

[peyl]

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)

   1. Also called Irish Pale. Also called English Pale. a district in eastern Ireland included in the Angevin Empire of King Henry II and his successors.

   2. Also called Pale of Settlement. the territories in the Russian Empire in which Jews were allowed to live.

7. Heraldry.,  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)

paled, paling 

1. to enclose with pales; fence.

2. to encircle or encompass.

pale

¹

/ peɪl /

adjective

1. lacking brightness of colour; whitish

   pale morning light

2. (of a colour) whitish; produced by a relatively small quantity of colouring agent

3. dim or wan

   the pale stars

4. feeble

   a pale effort

5. a euphemism for White

verb

1. to make or become pale or paler; blanch

2. to lose superiority or importance (in comparison to)

   her beauty paled before that of her hostess

pale

²

/ peɪl /

noun

1. a wooden post or strip used as an upright member in a fence

2. an enclosing barrier, esp a fence made of pales

3. an area enclosed by a pale

4. a sphere of activity within which certain restrictions are applied

5. heraldry an ordinary consisting of a vertical stripe, usually in the centre of a shield

6. outside the limits of social convention

verb

1. (tr) to enclose with pales

Other Word Forms

• palely adverb
• paleness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pale¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin pallidus pallid

Origin of pale²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English pal(e), paele, from Old French pal, pel “stake,” from Latin pālus “wooden pole, wooden peg, stake”; peel ³; pole ¹ ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of pale¹

C13: from Old French palle, from Latin pallidus pale, from pallēre to look wan

Origin of pale²

C14: from Old French pal, from Latin pālus stake; compare _pole ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. beyond the pale, beyond the limits of proper behavior, courtesy, protection, safety, etc..

   Their public comments are certainly beyond the pale.

see beyond the pale.

Synonym Study

Pale, pallid, wan imply an absence of color, especially 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.

Example Sentences

“Brown food tastes good” steadied my hand when I wanted to rescue onions-in-progress too soon, when the butter-slicked tangle was still pale and squeaky instead of sweet and golden.

From Salon

A splash of cream softened everything into a pale, velvety sauce, and a grating of parmesan and lemon zest nudged it toward something bright and indulgent.

From Salon

The save became regarded as a flawed statistic, and the workload of a closer paled in comparison to starters, who then still regularly exceeded 200 innings a year.

From Los Angeles Times

However, the government’s latest overreach — bringing a federal felony assault charge against Sean Dunn for throwing a submarine sandwich at an immigration enforcement agent in Washington, D.C. — is beyond the pale.

From Salon

She recalled her face and lips becoming pale and drawn and experiencing a bad headache.

From Los Angeles Times