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wale

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wale¹

  • /ˈweɪl/
  • [ˈweɪɫ]

Sounds like wail (pane–pain merger), whale (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

The noun is from Middle English wāle (“planking, welt”), from Old English walu (“ridge, bank; rib, comb (of helmet); metal ridge on top of helmet; weal, mark of a blow”), from Proto-Germanic *waluz (“stick, root”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind, roll”). Akin to Low German wāle; Old Norse vala (“knuckle”). The verb is from late Middle English wālen, from the noun.

noun wales

  1. A ridge or low barrier.
  2. A raised rib in knitted goods or fabric, especially corduroy. Most twills are continuous—the wale goes from one corner to the one diagonally opposite. Pattern, however, can be achieved by periodically changing the direction of the wales.
  3. The texture of a piece of fabric. Crepon cloths, with their heavy crape-like wale, are a noteworthy part of the season's importations.
  4. A horizontal ridge or ledge on the outside planking of a wooden ship, such as a gunwale or a chainwale. The strakes between the several ranges of ports, beginning from under the upper-deck ports of a three-decked ship in the royal navy, are called the channel wale, the middle wale, and the main wale.
  5. A horizontal timber used for supporting or retaining earth. A few feet below the first wale another timber is inserted, likewise secured by struts.
  6. A timber bolted to a row of piles to secure them together and in position. Except Plank upon the Head of the Key, and under the upper Wale, and Plank to join the piles.
  7. A ridge on the outside of a horse collar. The wale is shaped to the size of the horse's neck, and then sewn together, with a flap, known as the 'barge', left free along one side. To this 'barge' the body of the collar is sewn.
  8. A ridge or streak produced on skin by a cane or whip. Shall then that foule infamous Cyneds hide Laugh at the purple wales of others side?

verb wales · waling · waled

  1. To strike the skin in such a way as to produce a wale or welt. Would suffer his lazy rider to bestride his patie: back, with his hands and whip to wale his flesh, and with his heels to dig into his hungry bowels?
  2. To beat a person, especially as punishment or out of anger. When faced with an adulthood that offered few options, grinding poverty and marriage to a man who drank too much and came home to wale on his own family or...no beatings.
  3. To give a surface a texture of wales or welts.

wale²

  • /ˈweɪl/
  • [ˈweɪɫ]

Sounds like wail (pane–pain merger), whale (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

From Middle English wale, wal, from Old Norse val (“choice”), from Proto-Germanic *walą, *walō (“desire, choice”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose, want”). Akin to Old Norse velja (“to choose”), Old High German wala "choice" (German Wahl "choice"), Old English willan (“to want”). More at will.

noun wales

  1. Northern England, Scotland Something selected as being the best, preference; choice; choosing.

verb wales · waling · waled · wail

  1. Northern England, Scotland To choose, select.

Wale³

Where it comes from

* English surname of Norman origin, from the Anglo-Norman personal name Wale, of Germanic origin, from the name Walo, a byname meaning "foreigner" (see Wallace). This is also from the related Old English wealh (“Welshman”).

* Also as an English surname, from Middle English wale (“goodly, amazing”).

* Also as an English surname, from Middle English wale (“riverbank”), from Old English walu (“mark from a blow”).

* Also as an English surname, variant of Whale, Wheal, which is from Middle English wel (“happy”) or wele (“pool”).

* Also as an English surname, from the noun wheel or a nickname from weevil.

* As an Ethiopian surname, from a name derived from Amharic ዋለ (walä, “to spend the day”).

proper noun

  1. A surname.

Translations

Every language

noun raised rib in knit goods or fabric

Françaiscôte

verb To give a surface a texture of wales

Françaiscôteler

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{wale_2026,
  title = {wale},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wale},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}