pale

pale

pale¹ [pāl]

adj.

paler, palest [OFr < L pallidus, pale: see FALLOW²]

1. of a whitish or colorless complexion; pallid; wan

2. lacking intensity or brilliance: said of color, light, etc.; faint; dim

3. feeble; weak [a pale imitation]

vi.

paled, paling

1. to become pale

2. to seem weaker or less important

vt.

to make pale

palely

adv.

paleness

n.

SYN.- PALE¹, in this comparison the least connotative of these words, implies merely an unnatural whiteness or colorlessness, often temporary, of the complexion; PALLID suggests a paleness resulting from exhaustion, faintness, emotional strain, etc.; WAN¹ suggests the paleness resulting from an emaciating illness; ASHEN¹ implies the grayish paleness of the skin as in death; LIVID refers to a grayish-blue (or now, sometimes, white) complexion, as of one in great rage or fear

-ANT. RUDDY, ROSY

pale² [pāl]

n.

[ME < MFr pal < L palus, a stake < IE base * pak-, to fasten (as by ramming into the ground) > Gr passalos, a peg, stake, L pax, peace]

1. a narrow, upright, pointed stake used in fences; picket

2. a fence; enclosure; boundary; restriction: now chiefly figurative [outside the pale of the law, beyond the pale (of respectability)]

3. a territory or district enclosed within bounds

4. Bot. a chaffy bract or scale; esp., a bract at the base of a floret of a composite flower

5. Heraldry a vertical band forming the middle third of a shield