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bailey

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bailey¹

  • /ˈbeɪli/

Rhymes with -eɪli

Where it comes from

From Old French baile (“palisade, enclosure”), from Latin bacula, plural of baculum (“stick, rod”).

noun baileys

  1. The outer wall of a feudal castle.
  2. The space immediately within the outer wall of a castle or fortress.
  3. in certain proper names A prison or court of justice. the Old Bailey in London; the New Bailey in Manchester
  4. An argument which is controversial and more difficult to defend (in the context of a motte and bailey fallacy). "Birds are dinosaurs" is the bailey; "birds are more similar to dinosaurs than anything else" is the motte.

Bailey²

  • /ˈbeɪli/

Rhymes with -eɪli

Where it comes from

(English topographic surname): See bailey (“outer castle wall”)

proper noun Baileys · Bailie · Baily · Bayly · Bayley · Bailee

  1. countable A surname. “I did not initiate, welcome, encourage, engage in, or learn from much less enjoy, [Adam] Bailey’s tirade. I did not base any part of any of my rulings on it, as Bailey has outlandishly, mistakenly, and defamatorily claimed,” Engoron wrote.
  2. countable, uncountable An English surname from Anglo-Norman [in turn originating as an occupation] for a steward or official.
  3. countable, uncountable An English topographic surname from someone who lived by a bailey (the outer wall of a castle).
  4. countable, uncountable An Irish surname originating as an occupation, an anglicization of Báille (“bailie”).
  5. countable, uncountable A male given name transferred from the surname.
  6. US, countable, uncountable A female given name transferred from the surname.
  7. countable, uncountable A sea area, to the north of Rockall, centred on the former Bill Bailey Bank (now Rockall Basin), located in the Atlantic.
  8. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Park County, Colorado.
  9. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Sherburne County, Minnesota.
  10. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Lauderdale County, Mississippi.
  11. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Missouri; named for early settler John Martin Bailey.
  12. countable, uncountable A town in Nash County, North Carolina.
  13. countable, uncountable A ghost town in Grady County, Oklahoma.
  14. countable, uncountable A minor city in Fannin County, Texas.

noun Baileys

  1. An apple cultivar from New York

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: motte, billy, condolences, jubilee, beli, pele, billie, shackleton, baily, belli, pedraza, courtyard, court, yard, enclosure, ward

Translations

Every language

noun outer wall of a castle

Portuguêspaliçada
DeutschBurgmauer

noun space contained by the outer wall of a castle

DeutschBurghof

name family or given name

中文贝利, 貝利 /贝利 bèilì
עבריתביילי béili

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Cite this
MLA

"bailey." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bailey. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bailey. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bailey

Chicago

"bailey." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bailey.

BibTeX
@misc{bailey_2026,
  title = {bailey},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bailey},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}