pale1
adj.
- containing little colour or pigment; light in colour or shade.
▸(of a person's face) having little colour, typically as a result of shock, fear, or ill health.
- unimpressive or inferior:
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a pale imitation.
v.
- become pale in one's face.
- seem or become less important.
Derivative
- palely adv.
- paleness n.
- palish adj.
Etymology
ME: from OFr. pale, from L. pallidus.
pale2
n.
- a wooden stake used with others to form a fence.
- a conceptual boundary:
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within the pale of decency.
-
(often the Pale)
archaic or historical an area within determined bounds or subject to a particular jurisdiction.
- Heraldry a broad vertical stripe down the middle of a shield.
Phrase
- beyond the pale
outside the bounds of acceptable behaviour.
History
Pale entered Middle English from the Old French word pal, from Latin palus ‘stake’. The idea of a stake forming part of a fence or boundary led to the development of the phrase beyond the pale. The term Pale was applied to various English-controlled territories, in particular to the area of Ireland under English jurisdiction before the 16th century. The earliest reference (1547) to the Pale in Ireland as such draws the contrast between the English Pale and the ‘wyld Irysh’: the area beyond the pale would have been regarded as dangerous and uncivilized by the English.
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