Hail

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hail¹

  • /heɪl/
  • [heɪ̯ɫ]
  • [heːɫ]

Sounds like hale (pane–pain merger) · Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

From Middle English hayl, haul, from Old English hæġl, hæġel, hagol (“hail”), from Proto-West Germanic *hagl, from Proto-Germanic *haglaz, of uncertain origin. Either from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰlos (“pebble”); or alternatively from *ḱoḱló-, a reduplication of *ḱel- (“cold”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hail (“hail”), West Frisian heil (“hail”), Low German Hagel (“hail”), German Hagel (“hail”), Dutch and Swedish hagel (“hail”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Icelandic hagl (“hail”). Compare also Old Norse héla (“frost”). Doublet of haglaz, if the second etymology (“cold”) is correct.

Root-cognates outside of Germanic include Ancient Greek κάχληξ (kákhlēx, “pebble”), or alternatively Sanskrit शिशिर (śíśira, “cool, cold”), possibly also Lithuanian šešėlis (“shade, shadow”), depending on the etymology.

noun hails

  1. uncountable Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm.
  2. countable An occurrence of this type of precipitation; a hailstorm.
  3. broadly, countable A rapid, intense barrage by a large number of projectiles or other objects. Their lack of good intelligence also meant that they vastly overestimated the size of their foes for far too long, hails of armor-piercing shells doing comparatively little damage compared to the high explosive that they should have been using.

hail²

  • /heɪl/
  • [heɪ̯ɫ]
  • [heːɫ]

Sounds like hale (pane–pain merger) · Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

From Middle English haylen, haulien, hawelien, from Old English hagolian, hagalian (“to hail”), from Proto-West Germanic *haglōn, from Proto-Germanic *haglōną (“to hail”), from the noun (see above). Cognate with Saterland Frisian hailje (“to hail”), West Frisian heilje (“to hail”), Dutch hagelen (“to hail”), German Low German hageln (“to hail”), German hageln (“to hail”), Danish hagle (“to hail”), Swedish hagla (“to hail”), Norwegian Nynorsk hagle, hagla (“to hail”), Faroese hegla (“to hail”), Icelandic hagla (“to hail”).

verb hails · hailing · hailed

  1. impersonal To have hailstones fall from the sky. They say it's going to hail tomorrow.
  2. intransitive To send or release hail. The cloud would hail down furiously within a few minutes.
  3. To pour down in rapid succession.

hail³

  • /heɪl/
  • [heɪ̯ɫ]
  • [heːɫ]

Sounds like hale (pane–pain merger) · Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos

Proto-Germanic *hailaz

Old Norse heillbor.

Middle English heyl

English hail

From Middle English heyl (“healthy, sound”), from Old Norse heill, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole, entire, healthy”). The verb is from Middle English heilen, itself from the adjective. Doublet of whole, hale, and heil.

adjective hailer · hailest

  1. obsolete Healthy, whole, safe.

verb hails · hailing · hailed

  1. transitive To greet; give salutation to; salute. […] Farewel happy Fields / Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail / Infernal world, and thou profoundeſt Hell / Receive they new Poſſeſſor: […]
  2. transitive To name; to designate; to call. Such a Son as all men hail'd me happy;
  3. transitive To call out loudly in order to gain the attention of. Hail a taxi.
  4. Australia, UK, broadly, transitive To indicate, from a designated stop or otherwise, to the driver of a public transport vehicle that one wishes to board and travel on the vehicle, usually using hand signals such as waving. In Melbourne, you would usually have to hail a tram when you are travelling late at night and there are no other passengers waiting at your stop.
  5. transitive To signal in order to initiate communication with.
  6. transitive In the game of uppies and downies, to throw (the ball) repeatedly up and down at the goal location, in order to score a point.
  7. to originate (from), be native (to) or be based (in)

interjection

  1. archaic, poetic An exclamation of respectful or reverent salutation, or, occasionally, of familiar greeting. Hail, brave friend.

Hail⁴

proper noun

  1. A province of Saudi Arabia
  2. A city in Hail, Saudi Arabia

Hail⁵

proper noun Hails

  1. A surname.

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