Skip to the word

Added 8 October 2026

hail

/heɪl/ noun

In Latin: grandō Wiktionary

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

Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm.
An occurrence of this type of precipitation; a hailstorm.
A rapid, intense barrage by a large number of projectiles or other objects.

verb

To have hailstones fall from the sky.
They say it's going to hail tomorrow.
To send or release hail.
The cloud would hail down furiously within a few minutes.
To pour down in rapid succession.

adjective

Healthy, whole, safe.

verb

To greet; give salutation to; salute.
To name; to designate; to call.
He was hailed as a hero.
To call out loudly in order to gain the attention of.
Hail a taxi.

Origin

From Middle English hayl, haul, from Old English hæġl, hæġel, hagol (“hail”), from Proto-West Germanic *hagl, from Proto-Germanic *haglaz, of uncertain origin. Either from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰlos (“pebble”); or alternatively from *ḱoḱló-, a reduplication of *ḱel- (“cold”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hail (“hail”), West Frisian heil (“hail”), Low German Hagel (“hail”), German Hagel (“hail”), Dutch and Swedish hagel (“hail”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Icelandic hagl (“hail”). Compare also Old Norse héla (“frost”). Doublet of haglaz, if the second etymology (“cold”) is correct.

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

Back to today's word