pale

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a wooden strip forming part of a fence
  2. verb turn pale, as if in fear
  3. adjective very light colored; highly diluted with white

Etymology

From Middle English pale, from Old French pale, from Latin pallidus (“pale, pallid”), from palleō (“to be pale; to grow pale; to fade”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelito-, from *pelH- (“gray”). Doublet of pallid. Displaced native Old English blāc.

In classic literature

Synonyms

picket

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