*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of hale

From Northern Middle English hal, hale, variants of hole (“healthy; safe; whole”, whence whole), from Old English hāl, from Proto-West Germanic *hail, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole; entire; healthy”). See whole for

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
adj

Sound, entire, healthy; robust, not impaired.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Northern Middle English hal, hale, variants of hole (“healthy; safe; whole”, whence whole), from Old English hāl, from Proto-West Germanic *hail, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole; entire; healthy”). See whole for more.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Doublet mentionwholeen
  • Inherited-form mentionhālang
  • Inherited-form mention*hailgmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*hailazgem-pro
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm-nor",
        "3": "hal"
      },
      "expansion": "Northern Middle English hal"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "whole",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "whole"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "hāl"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English hāl"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*hail"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *hail"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*hailaz",
        "4": "",
        "5": "whole; entire; healthy"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole; entire; healthy”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "hal",
      "hal#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "hale",
      "hale#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "hole",
      "hole#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "whole",
      "whole#English"
    ],
    [
      "hāl",
      "hal#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*hail",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/hail"
    ],
    [
      "*hailaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hailaz"
    ],
    [
      "whole",
      "whole#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Sound, entire, healthy; robust, not impaired."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated"
      ],
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

Health, welfare.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English hale, an alteration of hele (“health”) after Etymology 1. Cognate with Scots hale (“health”), German Heil (“salvation, well-being”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionhaleenm
  • Cognate mentionhalesco · health
  • Cognate mentionHeilde · salvation, well-being
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "hale"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English hale"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "hale",
        "t": "health"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots hale (“health”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Heil",
        "t": "salvation, well-being"
      },
      "expansion": "German Heil (“salvation, well-being”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "hale",
      "hale#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "hele",
      "hele#Middle_English:_health"
    ],
    [
      "hale",
      "hale#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "Heil",
      "Heil#German"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Health, welfare."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "uncountable"
      ],
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Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗
verb

To drag or pull, especially forcibly.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English halen, from Anglo-Norman haler, from Old Dutch *halon (compare Dutch halen), from Proto-Germanic *halōną (compare Old English ġeholian, West Frisian helje, German holen), from Proto-Indo-European *kelH- (“to lift”) (compare Latin ex-cellō (“to surpass”), Tocharian B käly- (“to stand, stay”), Albanian qell (“to halt, hold up, carry”), Lithuanian kélti (“to raise up”), Ancient Greek κελέων (keléōn, “upright beam on a loom”)). Doublet of haul.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "halen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English halen"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "xno",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Anglo-Norman"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "odt",
        "3": "*halon"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Dutch *halon"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "halen"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch halen"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*halōną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *halōną"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "ġeholian"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English ġeholian"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "helje"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian helje"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "holen"
      },
      "expansion": "German holen"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*kelH-",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to lift"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *kelH- (“to lift”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "excello",
        "3": "ex-cellō",
        "4": "to surpass"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin ex-cellō (“to surpass”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sq",
        "2": "qell",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to halt, hold up, carry"
      },
      "expansion": "Albanian qell (“to halt, hold up, carry”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "kélti",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to raise up"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian kélti (“to raise up”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "κελέων",
        "3": "",
        "4": "upright beam on a loom"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek κελέων (keléōn, “upright beam on a loom”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "halen",
      "halen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "haler",
      "haler#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "*halon",
      "Reconstruction:Old Dutch/halon"
    ],
    [
      "halen",
      "halen#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "*halōną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/halōną"
    ],
    [
      "ġeholian",
      "geholian#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "helje",
      "helje#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "holen",
      "holen#German"
    ],
    [
      "*kelH-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kelH-"
    ],
    [
      "ex-cellō",
      "excello#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "käly-",
      "käly-#Chazumba_Mixtec"
    ],
    [
      "qell",
      "qell#Albanian"
    ],
    [
      "kélti",
      "kelti#Lithuanian"
    ],
    [
      "κελέων",
      "κελέων#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "haul",
      "haul#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
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      "glosses": [
        "To drag or pull, especially forcibly."
      ],
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        "transitive"
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for hale →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-aGFsZQ