pail

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pail

/peɪl/ US, UK
[pʰeɪ̯ɫ] US, UK
[pʰeəɫ] US, UK

Sounds like pale · Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

From Middle English payle (“bucket, pail, milking pail”), of uncertain origin.

Likely from Old English pæġel (“wine vessel, container for liquids, pail; a liquid measure”), from Proto-West Germanic *pagil, from Proto-Indo-European *bak- (“peg, club”), equivalent to peg + -le. Compare West Frisian pegel (“liquid measure, fourth of a litre, half-pint”), German Pegel (“level of liquid, level”), Middle Dutch pegel (“half-pint”), Danish pægl (“half-pint”). Doublet of peil.

Alternatively from Old French paielle (“frying pan, warming pan; a liquid measure”), from Latin patella (“small pan, shallow dish, platter”), diminutive of patina (“broad shallow pan, stewpan”). Perhaps a conflation of both.

noun pails

A vessel of wood, tin, plastic, etc., usually cylindrical and having a handle -- used especially for carrying liquids, for example water or milk; a bucket (sometimes with a cover). The milkmaid carried a pail of milk in each hand.
Similar: bucket
in technical use A closed (covered) cylindrical shipping container.

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{pail_2026,
  title = {pail},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pail},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}