different between wail vs shrill

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?l, IPA^(key): /we?l/, [we??]
• Rhymes: -e?l
• Homophone: wale
• Homophone: whale (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Etymology 1

c. 1300, Middle English weilen, waylen (“to sob, cry, wail”), from Old Norse væla (“to wail”), from væ, vei (“woe”), from Proto-Germanic *wai (whence also Old English w? (“woe”) (English woe)), from Proto-Indo-European *wai.

The verb is first attested in the intransitive sense; the transitive sense developed in mid-14^th c.. The noun came from the verb.

Verb

wail (third-person singular simple present wails, present participle wailing, simple past and past participle wailed)

1. (intransitive) To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
2. (intransitive) To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
3. (intransitive) To make a noise like mourning or crying.

4. (transitive) To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
5. (slang, music) To perform with great liveliness and force.

Derived terms

• bewail
• wailer
• wailingly

Translations

Noun

wail (plural wails)

1. A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish. [from 15^th c.]

2. Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.

3. A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.

Translations

References

Etymology 2

From Old Norse val (“choice”). Compare Icelandic velja (“to choose”). More at wale.

Verb

wail (third-person singular simple present wails, present participle wailing, simple past and past participle wailed)

1. (obsolete) Synonym of wale (“to choose; to select”)
   • c. 1500, Robert Henryson, Template:The Testament of Cresseid

     Wailed wine and metes

References

• wail in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• wail in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• wail at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• wali, wila, w?li

Asilulu

Noun

wail

1. water

References

• James T. Collins, The Historical Relationships of the Languages of Central Maluku, Indonesia (1983), page 70

Cebuano

Etymology

Blend of wala (“not”) +? ilhi (“known, recognized”)

Pronunciation

• (General Cebuano) IPA^(key): /?wa?il?/
• Rhymes: -il?
• Hyphenation: wa?il

Noun

wail

1. an insignificant person
2. an unknown person or thing
3. an unknown celebrity or politician

English

Etymology

From Late Middle English schrille, shirle, shrille (“of a sound: high-pitched, piercing; producing such a sound”), possibly from the earlier shil, schille (“loud, resounding; high-pitched, shrill; audible, clear; melodious, sweet-sounding”), from Old English scill (“sonorous sounding”), of Germanic origin. The r in the word was introduced by analogy to Middle English skr?ke, skr?ken, scr?men, possibly to avoid confusion with non-Anglian forms of schelle (modern English shell) where Old English scill (“sonorous sounding”) and scill (“shell”) existed.

The word is cognate with Icelandic skella (“crash, bang, slam”), Low German schrell (“sharp in taste or tone”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /???l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Adjective

shrill (comparative shriller, superlative shrillest)

1. High-pitched and piercing.
2. Having a shrill voice.
3. Sharp or keen to the senses.
4. (figuratively, derogatory, especially of a complaint or demand) Fierce, loud, strident.

Coordinate terms

• garish
• strident

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

shrill (third-person singular simple present shrills, present participle shrilling, simple past and past participle shrilled)

1. To make a shrill noise.

Derived terms

• outshrill
• shrilling
• shrillingly

Translations

Noun

shrill (plural shrills)

1. A shrill sound.

Translations

References