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vail

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vail¹

  • /veɪl/

Sounds like vale, veil, Vail · Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

From Middle English vayle, from Old French vail, from valoir (“to be worth”), from Latin valeō (“to be worth”).

noun vails

  1. obsolete Profit; return; proceeds. My house is as t’were the Caue, where the yong Out-lawe hoords the stolne vayles of his occupation […]
  2. in plural, obsolete Money given to servants by visitors; a gratuity; also vale. Do you remember, how many Rich Gowns and Petticoats, how many lac’d Pinners, Hoods, Scarfs, and Nightrails, I have given you, since the three Years you have serv’d me, together with many other Vails, Perquisites, and Profits you have enjoy’d in my Service?

vail²

  • /veɪl/

Sounds like vale, veil, Vail · Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

From Middle English valen; either from Anglo-Norman valer or a clipping of avalen. Compare avale.

noun vails

  1. obsolete Submission.

verb vails · vailing · vailed

  1. obsolete, transitive To lower, let fall; to allow or cause to sink. Then let them vale a bonet of their proud ſayle,
  2. transitive To lower or “dip” a carried flag or banner in a salute by a forward reducing of the angle of the pike/flagstaff with respect to the ground; in extreme instances, as when saluting a monarch, both the banner and the finial of the pike are allowed to rest upon the ground.
  3. intransitive, obsolete To lower a sail, in salute or otherwise. Both we will walke vpon the loftie cliffes, And Chriſtian Merchants that with Ruſſian ſtems Plow vp huge furrowes in the Caſpian ſea, Shall vaile to vs, as Lords of al the Lake.
  4. obsolete, transitive To remove as a sign of deference, as a hat. […] Now the time is come That France must vail her lofty-plumed crest And let her head fall into England’s lap.
  5. intransitive, obsolete To pay homage, bow, submit, defer (to someone or something); to yield, give way (to something). She would with rich and constant pen Vail to her mistress Dian;

vail³

  • /veɪl/

Sounds like vale, veil, Vail · Rhymes with -eɪl

noun vails

  1. archaic Archaic form of veil Ha! I see Venus’ transit now;—lo! a new planet there;—and behind all, an infinite starry nebulousness, as if thy being were backgrounded by some spangled vail of mystery.
  2. misspelling Misspelling of veil

verb vails · vailing · vailed

  1. archaic Archaic form of veil
  2. misspelling Misspelling of veil

Vail⁴

  • /veɪl/

Sounds like vail, vale, veil · Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

The town in Colorado was named after Vail Pass, which in turn was named after highway engineer Charles Vail. The surname likely comes from the obsolete term vail, meaning "submission", of Anglo-Norman origin.

proper noun Vails

  1. countable, uncountable A surname.
  2. countable, uncountable A census-designated place in Arizona, United States.
  3. countable, uncountable A town in Eagle County, Colorado, United States.
  4. countable, uncountable A city in Iowa, United States.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: maple, stormont, ballou, availment, vailer, value, valure, vaut, benefice, vallidom, vauntage, yield, usury, ventaile, vaire, vendour

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{vail_2026,
  title = {vail},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/vail},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}