gale

Etymology 1

From Middle English galen, from Old English galan (“to sing, enchant, call, cry, scream; sing charms, practice incantation”), from Proto-Germanic *galaną (“to roop, sing, charm”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (“to shout, scream, charm away”). Cognate with Danish gale (“to crow”), Swedish gala (“to crow”), Icelandic gala (“to sing, chant, crow”), Dutch galm (“echo, sound, noise”). Related to yell.

verb

1. (intransitive, now chiefly dialectal) To sing; charm; enchant.
   Can he cry and gale. c. 1346, Geoffrey Chaucer, Court of Love
2. (intransitive, now chiefly dialectal) To cry; groan; croak.
3. (intransitive, of a person, now chiefly dialectal) To talk.
4. (intransitive, of a bird, Scotland) To call.
5. (transitive, now chiefly dialectal) To sing; utter with musical modulations.

Etymology 2

From Middle English gale (“a wind, breeze”), probably of North Germanic origin, related to Icelandic gola (“a breeze”), Danish gal (“furious, mad”), both from Old Norse gala (“to sing”), and thus ultimately related to the above word (etymology 1).

noun

1. (meteorology) A very strong wind, more than a breeze, less than a storm; number 7 through to 9 winds on the 12-step Beaufort scale.
   It's blowing a gale outside.
   Many parts of the boat were damaged in the gale.
   With my mother's permission and blessings, I set off exultantly for Bombay, leaving my wife with a baby of a few months. But on arrival there, friends told my brother that the Indian Ocean was rough in June and July, and as this was my first voyage, I should not be allowed to sail until November. Someone also reported that a steamer had just been sunk in a gale. This made my brother uneasy, and he refused to take the risk of allowing me to sail immediately. 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xii
2. An outburst, especially of laughter.
   a gale of laughter
   The slightest hint of smugness would have had the nation leaning over our shoulders to blow out the birthday candles with a gale of reproach and disapproval. 1972, International Association of Seed Crushers, Congress [proceedings]
3. (literary, archaic) A light breeze.

verb

1. (nautical) To sail, or sail fast.

Etymology 3

From Middle English gaile, gawl, gawwyl, gaȝel, gagel, from Old English gagel, gagelle, gagille, gagolle (“gale; sweet gale”), from Proto-Germanic *gagulaz (“gale; sweet-willow”). Cognate with Scots gaul, gall (“bog-myrtle”), Dutch gagel (“wild mytle”), German Gagel (“mytle-bush”), Icelandic gaglviður (“sweet-gale; myrtle”).

noun

1. A shrub, also called sweet gale or bog myrtle (Myrica gale), that grows on moors and fens.

Etymology 4

From Middle English gavel (“rent; tribute”), from Old English gafol.

noun

1. (archaic) A periodic payment, such as is made of a rent or annuity.
   Gale day - the day on which rent or interest is due.