different between dull vs pale
dull
English
Alternative forms
- dul, dulle (all obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English dull, dul (also dyll, dill, dwal), from Old English dol (“dull, foolish, erring, heretical; foolish, silly; presumptuous”), from Proto-Germanic *dulaz, a variant of *dwalaz (“stunned, mad, foolish, misled”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?wel-, *d?ewel- (“to dim, dull, cloud, make obscure, swirl, whirl”). Cognate with Scots dull, doll (“slow to understand or hear, deaf, dull”), North Frisian dol (“rash, unthinking, giddy, flippant”), Dutch dol (“crazy, mad, insane”), Low German dul, dol (“mad, silly, stupid, fatuous”), German toll (“crazy, mad, wild, fantastic”), Danish dval (“foolish, absurd”), Icelandic dulur (“secretive, silent”), West-Flemish dul (angry, furious).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /d?l/
- (Canada) IPA(key): /d?l/, /d?l/, /d??/
- (US)
- Rhymes: -?l
Adjective
dull (comparative duller, superlative dullest)
- Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.
- Boring; not exciting or interesting.
- Not shiny; having a matte finish or no particular luster or brightness.
- a dull fire or lamp;? a dull red or yellow;? a dull mirror
- A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire.
- Not bright or intelligent; stupid; having slow understanding.
- Sluggish, listless.
- This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene
- O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue.
- Cloudy, overcast.
- Insensible; unfeeling.
- Think me not / So dull a devil to forget the loss / Of such a matchless wife.
- Heavy; lifeless; inert.
- c. 1857', Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Table-Talk
- As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain.
- c. 1857', Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Table-Talk
- (of pain etc) Not intense; felt indistinctly or only slightly.
- Pressing on the bruise produces a dull pain.
- (of a noise or sound) Not clear, muffled.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:boring
- See also Thesaurus:stupid
- (not shiny): lackluster, matte
Antonyms
- bright
- intelligent
- sharp
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
dull (third-person singular simple present dulls, present participle dulling, simple past and past participle dulled)
- (transitive) To render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp.
- Years of misuse have dulled the tools.
- 1623, Francis Bacon, A Discourse of a War with Spain
- This […] dulled their swords.
- (transitive) To soften, moderate or blunt; to make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy.
- He drinks to dull the pain.
- 1850, Richard Chenevix Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord
- Use and custom have so dulled our eyes.
- (intransitive) To lose a sharp edge; to become dull.
- A razor will dull with use.
- To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish.
Synonyms
- dullen
Translations
References
- dull in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- dull in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
- ULDL
Welsh
Etymology
Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dey?- (“to show, point out”).
Pronunciation
- (North Wales) IPA(key): /d???/
- (South Wales) IPA(key): /d??/
Noun
dull m (plural dulliau)
- method
Mutation
Further reading
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “dull”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
References
dull From the web:
- what dull means
- what dulls a knife the fastest
- what dull pain means
- what dulls a chainsaw chain
- what dulls scissors
- what dulls iron
- what dull hair means
- what dulls your taste buds
pale
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: p?l, IPA(key): /pe?l/
- IPA(key): [p?e???], [p?e??]
- (US)
- Rhymes: -e?l
- Homophone: pail
Etymology 1
From Middle English pale, from Old French pale, from Latin pallidus (“pale, pallid”). Doublet of pallid.
Adjective
pale (comparative paler, superlative palest)
- Light in color.
- “Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it's very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better. […]”
- (of human skin) Having a pallor (a light color, especially due to sickness, shock, fright etc.).
- Feeble, faint.
- He is but a pale shadow of his former self.
Synonyms
- (human skin): See also Thesaurus:pallid
Derived terms
- pale thrush
Translations
Verb
pale (third-person singular simple present pales, present participle paling, simple past and past participle paled)
- (intransitive) To turn pale; to lose colour.
- (intransitive) To become insignificant.
- 12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift
- The matter of whether the world needs a fourth Ice Age movie pales beside the question of why there were three before it, but Continental Drift feels less like an extension of a theatrical franchise than an episode of a middling TV cartoon, lolling around on territory that’s already been settled.
- 12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift
- (transitive) To make pale; to diminish the brightness of.
Derived terms
- pale in comparison
Translations
Noun
pale
- (obsolete) Paleness; pallor.
- 1593, William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, lines 589–592:
- The boare (quoth ?he) whereat a ?uddain pale, / Like lawne being ?pred vpon the blu?hing ro?e, / V?urpes her cheeke, ?he trembles at his tale, / And on his neck her yoaking armes ?he throwes.
- 1593, William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, lines 589–592:
Etymology 2
From Middle English pale, pal, borrowed from Old French pal, from Latin p?lus (“stake, prop”). English inherited the word pole (or, rather Old English p?l) from a much older Proto-Germanic borrowing of the same Latin word.
Doublet of peel and pole.
Noun
pale (plural pales)
- A wooden stake; a picket.
- 1707, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry, London: H. Mortlock & J. Robinson, 2nd edition, 1708, Chapter 1, pp. 11-12,[4]
- […] if you de?ign it a Fence to keep in Deer, at every eight or ten Foot di?tance, ?et a Po?t with a Mortice in it to ?tand a little ?loping over the ?ide of the Bank about two Foot high; and into the Mortices put a Rail […] and no Deer will go over it, nor can they creep through it, as they do often, when a Pale tumbles down.
- 1707, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry, London: H. Mortlock & J. Robinson, 2nd edition, 1708, Chapter 1, pp. 11-12,[4]
- (archaic) Fence made from wooden stake; palisade.
- c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, Act IV, Scene 2,[5]
- How are we park’d and bounded in a pale,
- A little herd of England’s timorous deer,
- Mazed with a yelping kennel of French curs!
- 1615, Ralph Hamor, A True Discourse of the Present Estate of Virginia, London: William Welby, p. 13,[6]
- Fourthly, they ?hall not vpon any occa?ion what?oeuer breake downe any of our pales, or come into any of our Townes or forts by any other waies, i??ues or ports then ordinary [...].
- c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, Act IV, Scene 2,[5]
- (by extension) Limits, bounds (especially before of).
- 1645, John Milton, Il Penseroso, in The Poetical Works of Milton, volume II, Edinburgh: Sands, Murray, and Cochran, published 1755, p. 151, lines 155–160:[7]
- But let my due feet never fail, / To walk the ?tudious cloy?ters pale, / And love the high embowed roof, / With antic pillars ma??y proof, / And ?toried windows richly dight, / Ca?ting a dim religious light.
- 1900, Jack London, Son of the Wolf:The Wisdom of the Trail:
- Men so situated, beyond the pale of the honor and the law, are not to be trusted.
- 1919, B. G. Jefferis and J. L. Nichols, Searchlights on Health:When and Whom to Marry:
- All things considered, we advise the male reader to keep his desires in check till he is at least twenty-five, and the female not to enter the pale of wedlock until she has attained the age of twenty.
- 1645, John Milton, Il Penseroso, in The Poetical Works of Milton, volume II, Edinburgh: Sands, Murray, and Cochran, published 1755, p. 151, lines 155–160:[7]
- The bounds of morality, good behaviour or judgment in civilized company, in the phrase beyond the pale.
- 2016 October 19, Jeff Flake, on Twitter:
- .@realDonaldTrump saying that he might not accept election results is beyond the pale.
- 2016 October 19, Jeff Flake, on Twitter:
- (heraldry) A vertical band down the middle of a shield.
- (archaic) A territory or defensive area within a specific boundary or under a given jurisdiction.
- (historical) The parts of Ireland under English jurisdiction.
- (historical) The territory around Calais under English control (from the 14th to 16th centuries).
- 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate 2010, p. 402:
- He knows the fortifications – crumbling – and beyond the city walls the lands of the Pale, its woods, villages and marshes, its sluices, dykes and canals.
- 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 73:
- A low-lying, marshy enclave stretching eighteen miles along the coast and pushing some eight to ten miles inland, the Pale of Calais nestled between French Picardy to the west and, to the east, the imperial-dominated territories of Flanders.
- 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate 2010, p. 402:
- (historical) A portion of Russia in which Jews were permitted to live.
- (archaic) The jurisdiction (territorial or otherwise) of an authority.
- A cheese scoop.
- A shore for bracing a timber before it is fastened.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Spencer to this entry?)
Translations
Verb
pale (third-person singular simple present pales, present participle paling, simple past and past participle paled)
- To enclose with pales, or as if with pales; to encircle or encompass; to fence off.
- c. 1609, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act III, Scene 1,[8]
- […] your i?le, which ?tands / As Neptunes Parke, ribb’d, and pal’d in / With Oakes vn?kaleable, and roaring Waters, / With Sands that will not bear your Enemies Boates, / But ?uck them vp to th’ Top-ma?t.
- c. 1609, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act III, Scene 1,[8]
Related terms
- impale
- palisade
- pallescent
References
Anagrams
- Alep, LEAP, Lape, Leap, Peal, e-pal, leap, peal, pela, plea
Afrikaans
Noun
pale
- plural of paal
Estonian
Noun
pale (genitive [please provide], partitive [please provide])
- cheek
Declension
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
French
Etymology
From Latin p?la (“shovel, spade”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pal/
- Homophone: pâle (chiefly France)
Noun
pale f (plural pales)
- blade (of a propeller etc)
- vane (of a windmill etc)
Further reading
- “pale” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Anagrams
- Alep, lape, lapé, pela
Haitian Creole
Etymology
From French parler (“talk, speak”)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pa.le/
Verb
pale
- to talk, to speak
Italian
Noun
pale f
- plural of pala
Anagrams
- alpe, pela
Jakaltek
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish padre (“father”).
Noun
pale
- priest
References
- Church, Clarence; Church, Katherine (1955) Vocabulario castellano-jacalteco, jacalteco-castellano?[10] (in Spanish), Guatemala C. A.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 17; 39
Latin
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Ancient Greek ???? (pál?).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /?pa.le?/, [?pä??e?]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /?pa.le/, [?p??l?]
Noun
pal? f (genitive pal?s); first declension
- a wrestling
Declension
First-declension noun (Greek-type).
Etymology 2
Noun
p?le
- vocative singular of p?lus
References
- pale in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- pale in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
- pale in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- pale in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
Lindu
Noun
pale
- (anatomy) hand
Lower Sorbian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?pal?/, [?pal?]
Participle
pale
- third-person plural present of pali?
Norman
Etymology
From Old French pale, from Latin pallidus (“pale, pallid”).
Adjective
pale m or f
- (Jersey) pale
Synonyms
- bliême
Northern Kurdish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /p???l?/
Noun
pale ?
- worker
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
pale n (definite singular paleet, indefinite plural pale or paleer, definite plural palea or paleene)
- alternative spelling of palé
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
pale n (definite singular paleet, indefinite plural pale, definite plural palea)
- alternative spelling of palé
Old French
Alternative forms
- pasle
- paule
Etymology
From Latin pallidus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?pa.l?/
Adjective
pale m (oblique and nominative feminine singular pale)
- pale, whitish or having little color
Descendants
- English: pale
- French: pâle
- Norman: pale (Jersey)
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?pa.l?/
- Homophone: pal?
Noun
pale m
- nominative/accusative/vocative plural of pal
Noun
pale m
- locative/vocative singular of pa?
Noun
pale f
- dative/locative singular of pa?a
Further reading
- pale in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Serbo-Croatian
Verb
pale (Cyrillic spelling ????)
- third-person plural present of paliti
Swahili
Pronunciation
Adjective
pale
- Pa class inflected form of -le.
pale From the web:
- what palestine
- what paleo diet
- what palestine means
- what paleo means
- what paleontologist do
- what pale means
- what palestinian mean
- what palette means
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