## Meanings
1. Money paid so that an arrested person can be released until their trial, promising they will return to court.
2. To pay money to get someone released from jail until their trial.
3. To scoop water out of a boat to stop it from sinking.

## Examples
- The judge set bail at ten thousand dollars.
- She bailed her brother out after he was arrested.
- We bailed frantically to keep the rowboat from going under.

## Derived Forms
- bail-in
- bail-out
- bail-piece
- bailable
- bailee
- bailer
- bailjumping
- bailment
- bailor
- bailout
- bailpiece
- bailsman

## Related Forms
- bailiff

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: baille
- Root: bāiulō

## Etymology
From Middle English baille, from the Old French verb bailler (“to deliver or hand over”) and noun bail (“lease”), from Latin bāiulāre (“carry or bear”), from baiulus (“porter; steward”) (English: bailiff).

## AI Etymology
Bail is from Middle English baille, from the Old French verb bailler (“to deliver or hand over”) and noun bail (“lease”), from Latin bāiulāre (“carry or bear”), from baiulus (“porter; steward”) (English: bailiff). Important recorded forms include baille (Middle English) and bāiulō (Latin). Current senses include money paid so that an arrested person can be released until their trial, promising they will return to court, to pay money to get someone released from jail until their trial, and to scoop water out of a boat to stop it from sinking. The wider family includes derived forms such as bail-in, bail-out, bail-piece, bailable, and bailee and related words such as bailiff.

## Topics
- Money & Finance
- Crime & Justice

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