hail

• IPA^(key): /heɪl/, [heɪ̯ɫ]

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• Rhymes: -eɪl
• Homophone: hale

From Middle English hayle, haile, hail, from Old English hæġl, hæġel, from Proto-Germanic *haglaz (compare West Frisian heil, Low German Hagel, Dutch hagel, German Hagel, Danish hagl, Norwegian hagl)). Either from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰlos (“pebble”), or from *ḱoḱló-, a reduplication of *ḱel- (“cold”) (compare Old Norse héla (“frost”)).

Root-cognates outside of Germanic include Welsh caill (“testicle”), Breton kell (“testicle”), Lithuanian šešėlis (“shade, shadow”), Ancient Greek κάχληξ (kákhlēx, “pebble”), Albanian çakëll (“pebble”), Sanskrit शिशिर (śíśira, “cool, cold”).

hail (countable and uncountable, plural hails)

1. (meteorology, uncountable) Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm.
2. (meteorology, countable) An occurrence of this type of precipitation; a hailstorm.
3. (countable, by extension) A rapid, intense barrage by a large number of projectiles or other objects.
   • 2019 February 27, Drachinifel, The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?‎, archived from the original on 3 November 2022, retrieved 5 November 2022, 40:01 from the start:

     Their lack of good intelligence also meant that they vastly overestimated the size of their foes for far too long, hails of armor-piercing shells doing comparatively little damage compared to the high explosive that they should have been using.

hail (third-person singular simple present hails, present participle hailing, simple past and past participle hailed)

1. (impersonal) Of hail, to fall from the sky.

   They say it's going to hail tomorrow.

2. (intransitive) To send or release hail.

   The cloud would hail down furiously within a few minutes.

3. To pour down in rapid succession.

From Middle English heil (“healthy, sound”), from Old Norse heill, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole, entire, healthy”). The verb is from Middle English heilen, itself from the adjective. Doublet of whole, hale, and heil.

hail (comparative hailer, superlative hailest)

1. (obsolete) Healthy, whole, safe.

hail (third-person singular simple present hails, present participle hailing, simple past and past participle hailed)

1. (transitive) To greet; give salutation to; salute.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554, lines 249–252:

     […] Farewel happy Fields / Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail / Infernal world, and thou profoundeſt Hell / Receive they new Poſſeſſor: […]

2. (transitive) To name; to designate; to call.
   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398, page 28:

     Such a Son as all men hail'd me happy;

   He was hailed as a hero.

3. (transitive) To call out loudly in order to gain the attention of.

   Hail a taxi.

   1. (transitive, by extension, UK, Australia) To indicate, from a designated stop or otherwise, to the driver of a public transport vehicle that one wishes to board and travel on the vehicle, usually using hand signals such as waving.

      In Melbourne, you would usually have to hail a tram when you are travelling late at night and there are no other passengers waiting at your stop.

4. (transitive) To signal in order to initiate communication with.

• wassail

hail

1. (archaic or poetic) An exclamation of respectful or reverent salutation, or, occasionally, of familiar greeting.
   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii]:

     Hail, brave friend.

• Hlai, hila

hail

1. adessive singular of hai

• IPA^(key): /halʲ/

hail

1. h-prothesized form of ail

hail (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of hayle (“hail”)

hail

1. Alternative form of heil (“healthy, sound”)

hail (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of heil (“health, welfare”)

From Old English hāl (“healthy, safe”), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole, safe, sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *kóh₂ilus (“healthy, whole”).

• IPA^(key): [hel]
• (South Scots) IPA^(key): [hjɛl]

hail (comparative hailer, superlative hailest)

1. whole
2. free or recovered from disease, healthy, wholesome
3. (of people, parts of the body, etc.) free from injury, safe, sound, unhurt
4. (of material objects and of time, numbers etc.) whole, entire, complete, sound, unbroken, undamaged

hail (plural hails)

1. the whole, the whole amount or number

hail (third-person singular simple present hails, present participle hailin, simple past hailt, past participle hailt)

1. to heal, cure

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): [hel]

hail (third-person singular simple present hails, present participle hailin, simple past hailt, past participle hailt)

1. (sports) to drive the ball through the goal, etc.

• ower hail (“to overtake”)

hail (plural hails)

1. (sports) goal, the shout when a goal is scored, the goal area

From Old English hæġl, hæġel, from Proto-Germanic *haglaz, either from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰlos (“pebble”), or from *ḱoḱló-, a reduplication of *ḱel- (“cold”).

• IPA^(key): [hel]

hail (uncountable)

1. (weather) hail, hailstones
2. small shot, pellets

• hailie-pickle (“hailstone”)
• hailstane (“hailstone”)

• hâil

From Ottoman Turkish حائل‎ (hail), from Arabic حَائِل‎ (ḥāʾil). An Ottoman Turkish homophone from Arabic هَائِل‎ (hāʾil) did not survive to modern Turkish.

hail (definite accusative haili, plural hailler) (obsolete)

1. obstacle

   Synonym: engel

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “ha'il¹”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 2, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 1838
• Devellioğlu, Ferit (1962), “hâil”, in Osmanlıca-Türkçe Ansiklopedik Lûgat‎ (in Turkish), Istanbul: Türk Dil Kurumu, page 373
• Avery, Robert et al., editors (2013) The Redhouse Dictionary Turkish/Ottoman English, 21st edition, Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık, →ISBN

• IPA^(key): /hai̯l/
• Rhymes: -ai̯l

hail

1. h-prothesized form of ail (“second”)

From Old Norse heill, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kóh₂ilus (“healthy, whole”). Akin to English whole.

• IPA^(key): /he(ɪ̯)ːl/, /hɛ(ɪ̯)ːl/, /ha(ɪ̯)ːl/

  Rhymes: -éɪ̯ːl

hail (neuter haillt)

1. whole, complete, full, entire

   Dem sat å gamsä heilä ättermedagen

   They sat and chewed the fat the entire afternoon.

• IPA^(key): /²he(ɪ̯)ːl/, /²hɛ(ɪ̯)ːl/, /²ha(ɪ̯)ːl/

  Rhymes: -èɪ̯ːl

hail (preterite haile, middle hailes, passive val haile)

1. (transitive) To heal.

• häli