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Added 9 October 2026

gale

/ɡeɪl/ verb

In Latin: procella Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about gale at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To cry; groan; croak.
To talk.
To sing; utter with musical modulations.

noun

A very strong wind, more than a breeze, less than a storm; number 7 through to 9 winds on the 12-step Beaufort scale.
It's blowing a gale outside.
An outburst, especially of laughter.
a gale of laughter
A light breeze.

verb

To sail, or sail fast.

noun

A shrub, also called sweet gale or bog myrtle (Myrica gale), that grows on moors and fens.

Origin

From Middle English galen, from Old English galan (“to sing, enchant, call, cry, scream; sing charms, practice incantation”), from Proto-Germanic *galaną (“to roop, sing, charm”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (“to shout, scream, charm away”). Cognate with Danish gale (“to crow”), Swedish gala (“to crow”), Icelandic gala (“to sing, chant, crow”), Dutch galm (“echo, sound, noise”). Related to yell.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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