pale

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Light in colour, not strong or bright.

   The bedroom walls were painted a pale yellow.

2. 2
   adj

   Having less colour in the face than usual, often because of illness or fear.

   His face turned pale when he heard the bad news.

3. 3
   verb

   To become pale; to lose colour from the face.

   She paled at the sight of the blood.

4. 4
   verb

   To seem small or unimportant compared with something else.

   My problems pale in comparison to hers.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Pale has two distinct origins. The noun meaning “stake” came through Old French pal from Latin palus, “stake.” The adjective meaning “light in colour” came through Old French pale from Latin pallidus, with the same meaning, and has been used in English since the Middle Ages. The Pale was also the name of the part of Ireland under English jurisdiction before the 16th century, but its connection to the 18th-century expression beyond the pale is extremely unlikely, and that expression’s origin remains uncertain.

Etymology tree Latin palleō Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Latin -idus Latin pallidus Old French palebor. Middle English pale English pale From Middle English pale, from Old French pale, from Latin pallidus (“pale, pallid”), from palleō (“to be pale; to grow pale; to fade”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelito-, from *pelH- (“gray”). Doublet of pallid. Displaced native Old English blāc.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary