English
pale
Pale comes from Old French pale ‘pale, whitish or having little color’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pelH- ‘gray’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pelH-‘gray’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pelito-reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpalleō‘to be pale’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpallidus‘pale, pallid’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400pale‘pale, whitish or having little color’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1593same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pelH-‘gray’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pelito-reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpalleō‘to be pale’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpallidus‘pale, pallid’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400pale‘pale, whitish or having little color’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1593same form
Earliest quotation: 1593, William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis: “The boare (quoth ſhe) whereat a ſuddain pale, /…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pelH- ‘gray’
poly, fallow, poulter, paloma, pall, palomino, 24 more
through Latin palleō ‘to be pale’
through Latin pallidus ‘pale, pallid’
Another origin of pale
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-‘to attach, fix’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-slosreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pākslosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpālus‘stake, prop’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400pal
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pale
- Englishtodaysame form
English inherited the word pole (or, rather Old English pāl) from a much older Proto-Germanic borrowing of the same Latin word.
Today it means
adj Light in color.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pelH- / pale