valen.1
/veɪl/, U.S. /veɪl/ 1.
a. A more or less extensive tract of land lying between two ranges of hills, or stretches of high ground, and usually traversed by a river or stream; a dale or valley, esp. one which is comparatively wide and flat.In later use chiefly poetic (except as in 1b), but employed as an ordinary prose word by American writers in the second half of the 18th century.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > valley > [noun] > wide
valea1400
strath1508
α.
in extended use.1820 P. B. Shelley Vision of Sea in Prometheus Unbound 175 The walls of the watery vale..are unmoved by the gale.1820 P. B. Shelley Vision of Sea in Prometheus Unbound 178 The mountainous vale of the wave.β. a1400–50 Alexander 3980 If I be vencust in þe vaile & voidid of my lyfe.c1440 Generydes 216 They rode in a full fayre vaile.1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 14 In ane vaill that is besyde the toun, Eberieus stentit thair palȝeonis doun.1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) xiv. 16 The wallowit weidis in þe vaill.1617 W. Mure Misc. Poems xxi. 102 Heir wods and vails and echoes that resounds.1770 G. Washington Writings (1889) II. 308 The vail (through which this creek runs)..appears to be wide.c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 673 For þat Cite þer bysyde was sette in a vale.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xxxi. 138 Þare es a vale betwene twa hilles.
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 21198 Affter philisofres talys, Ther ben hylles, ther ben wales, Medwes, ryvers.
1508 W. Dunbar Goldyn Targe (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems (1998) I. 191 Suete war the vapouris,..Halesum the vale depaynt wyth flouris ying.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. iii. 93 These two haue ticed me hither to this place, A barren, detested vale you see it is. View more context for this quotation
1618 J. Taylor Pennyles Pilgr. in Wks. (1630) 136/2 Then let who list delight in Vales below, Skie-kissing Mountaines pleasure are for me.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 7 Towards the Tiberiade Sea there is another vale very hollow, between two hills, where the Sun is hardly ever seen.
1727 J. Thomson Summer 41 A..Stream..restless, roaring to the humble Vale.
1751 J. Bartram Observ. Trav. from Pensilvania 35 We lodged by Front Creek in a spacious vale.
1787 M. Cutler Jrnl. 14 July in W. P. Cutler & J. P. Cutler Life, Jrnls. & Corr. M. Cutler (1888) I. 277 At the bottom of the vale, and on the bank of the river, is a huge rock.
1835 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece I. i. 7 Into which the Spercheius..winds through a long narrow vale.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. i. 10 I pity people who were'nt [sic] born in a vale. I don't mean a flat country, but a vale; that is, a flat country bounded by hills.
1878 R. Browning La Saisiaz 8 Forth we sallied to see sunset from the vale.
b. Const. of (the distinctive name of the vale).
ΚΠ
a1300 Cursor Mundi 2705 Abram satt his hus..Bi-side þe wale of moat mambre.
c1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 5164 Al men sal ryse to þe dome, And in þe vale of Iosaphat come.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) viii. 30 Men schall passe thurgh þis deserte to þe vale of Elym.
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxvi. 4364 A companny Þat..war walkande In til þe wail of Anande.
c1480 (a1400) St. Paul 285 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 37 In þe wale of comptone [read campioune; L. pugilum].
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cclxvij By the vale of Remsie.
1577 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Islande Brit. i. xiii. f. 38v/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I The famous vales in Englande, of which one is called the Vale of white horse, another of Eouesham,..the third of Ailesbyry [etc.].
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 266 And thou Moon [stand] in the vale of Aialon, Till Israel overcome. View more context for this quotation
1804 C. B. Brown tr. C. F. de Volney View Soil & Climate U.S.A. 33 West of the Allegheny, towards the vale of the Ohio, there are many remarkable hills.
1837 J. R. McCulloch Statist. Acct. Brit. Empire I. i. i. 24 The Vale of Gloucester, or that part of the Vale of Severn..which lies in Gloucestershire.
c. Without article, occasionally contrasted with hill, mountain, etc.
ΚΠ
c1402 J. Lydgate Compl. Black Knight vii The briddes..Which on the braunches, bothe in pleyn and vale, So loude songe.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 1013 Baith hycht and waill obeyed all till his will.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 563 Where casual fire Had wasted woods on Mountain or in Vale . View more context for this quotation
?1786 W. Wordsworth Calm is all Nature 6 A slumber seems to steal O'er vale, and mountain.
a1822 P. B. Shelley tr. J. W. von Goethe Scenes from Faust in Posthumous Poems (1824) 401 A voice..Which..vibrates far o'er field and vale.
2.
a. In figurative uses. Also const. of (adversity, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > [noun] > place of
vale1412
1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy ii. 42 Sche can plonge worþi emperoures From þe hille of hiȝe prosperite In-to þe vale of aduersite.
c1450 Pol., Rel., & L. Poems (1903) 181 In the vaile of restles mynd, I sowght in mownteyn & in mede.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms lxxxiii. 6 Which goinge thorow the vale of mysery, vse it for a well.]
1604 N. Breton Grimellos Fortunes in Wks. (1879) II. 5/2 After that I had past the great Mountaine of mishaps, I fell into a long vaile of miserie.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 721 I..Have pour'd my stream of panegyric down The vale of nature.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Death in T. J. Hogg Life Shelley (1858) I. 197 I dare not unveil The shadows that float on Eternity's vale.
b. The world regarded as a place of trouble, sorrow, misery, or weeping. Usually with this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [noun] > this world as place of misery
valley of tearsa1400
vale14..
14.. in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 123 In thys sorowfull vale Of trowbull of woo and of hevynes.
R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 12 In þis vale of wepynge þai haue bene delityd.
1497 J. Alcock Mons Perfeccionis (de Worde) A iij/2 Ye transytory Joye of this vale of mysery.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 139 Out of this vaill of trubbill and dissait.
1554 in Bannatyne Misc. (1855) III. 65 The labilitie and breuitie of tymes..and of men in this wale of teiris beand considerit.
1618 W. Raleigh Remains (1664) 113 What could you find in the vail of tears [etc.]?
1655 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) II. 12 For afflicktions whille we live in this vaille of miserey must continually be loocked for.
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 256 Though life's valley be a vale of tears, A brighter scene beyond that vale appears.
1816 P. B. Shelley Hymn Intell. Beauty ii Why dost thou pass away and leave our state, This dim vast vale of tears, vacant and desolate?
1911 G. B. Shaw Shewing-up Blanco Posnet in Doctor's Dilemma 405 I thought I was a man and not a snivelling canting..apprentice angel serving his time in a vale of tears.
1963 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Feb. 130/3 It looks..to heaven, but with no vale-of-tears morality.
1977 D. E. Westlake Enough! i. 22 I was about as safe as anybody ever is in this vale of tears.
c. The world regarded as the scene of life. With various qualifications, as earthly, mortal, etc., or const. of (life, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun] > present life
worldeOE
this lifeOE
world-lifeOE
sithea1225
journey?c1225
pilgrimagec1384
weeping-dalec1400
valec1446
peregrinationc1475
scene1662
shades1816
earth life1842
macro-world1968
c1446 J. Lydgate Two Nightingale Poems ii. 351 Where-as þat god of love hym-self doth dwelle Vpon an hille ferre from the mortal vale.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) ii. i. 73 Great is his comfort in this Earthly Vale, Although by his sight his sinne be multiplyed. View more context for this quotation
1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity i, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 420 Why, whilst We struggle in this Vale beneath.., Do They more bless'd perpetual Life employ..in Scenes of Joy?
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 799 An unambitious mind, content In the low vale of life.
1819 P. B. Shelley Fragm.: Gentle Story 6 In this world's deserted vale.
1897 H. Tennyson Alfred Ld. Tennyson: Mem. I. xiv. 309 [Quoting Ld. Tennyson] In this vale of Time the hills of Time often shut out the mountains of Eternity.
d. the vale of years, the declining years of a person's life; old age.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > old age > [noun]
eld971
old agec1330
agec1380
last agea1382
oldc1385
aldereldea1400
winterc1425
vilessec1430
annosityc1450
senectute1481
the black ox1546
golden years1559
years1561
great1587
afterlife1589
setting sun1597
antiquity1600
chair-daysa1616
the vale of yearsa1616
grandevity1623
green old age1634
eldship1647
senioritya1688
the other side of the hill1691
the decline of life1711
senectude1756
senility1791
senectitude1796
post-climacteric1826
Anno Domini1885
senium1911
golden age1946
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1623) iii. iii. 270 Haply,..for I am declin'd Into the vale of yeares.
1677 T. D'Urfey Madam Fickle iv. 39 A man that has the misfortune to decline into the vail of Years.
1769 Ld. Holland in J. H. Jesse G. Selwyn & his Contemp. (1843) II. 372 Yet I..am weak enough sometimes to think, that if Rigby..had pleased, I should have walked down the vale of years more easily.
1796 E. Burke Two Lett. Peace Regicide Directory France in Wks. (1808) VIII. 310 That venerable potentate and pontiff, issunk deep into the vale of years.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian viii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 204 Mrs. Butler [was] a woman, and declined into the vale of years.
a. One of the grooves in the beam of a hart's antler. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > male > [noun] > body and parts > antler > main stem of > groove in
valea1425
gutter1575
a1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Digby) xxiv Alle allonge þe beames þere be smale vales, þat men clepe gotters.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > arrow > [noun] > head of arrow > barbed head > notch at back of
valec1400
c1400 Laud Troy Bk. 7794 To that kyng he gan to hale, And drow an arwe vp to the vale.
Compounds
C1. Attributive, as vale-dweller, vale-hind.
ΚΠ
1832 J. Bree St. Herbert's Isle 13 To mark the vale-hind ted the ripened shock.
1889 Archaeologia Aeliana New Ser. 13 266 The fierce pagan vale-dwellers by the North Tyne.
C2. Attributive, occasionally passing into adj., in the sense ‘of or belonging to, found, grown, or produced in, a (particular) vale’, as vale-barley, †vale-dog, vale-farmer, vale-grey (a variety of pea), vale-man, vale soil.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [noun] > pea > other types of pea or pea-plant
rouncival1570
garden pea1573
field pease1597
vale-grey1615
rose pea1629
hotspur1663
seven-year pea1672
rathe-ripe1677
huff-codc1680
pigeon pea1683
hog-pease1686
shrub pea1691
field pea1707
pea1707
crown pea1726
maple rouncival1731
marrowfat1731
moratto1731
pig pea1731
sickle-pea1731
hog pea1732
maple pea1732
marrow pea1733
black eye?1740
egg-pea1744
magotty bay bean1789
Prussian1804
maple grey1805
partridge pea1812
Prussian blue1822
scimitar1834
marrow1855
fill-basket1881
string-pea1891
mattar1908
vining pea1959
1615 G. Markham Countrey Contentments i. viii. 98 Now the Gentlemen which dwell on the dounes and plaine grounds, to maintaine the reputation of their Dogs, affirme them to be much more nimble..in turning, then the vale Dogs be.
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 240 When at any time they sow Peas on this Land, the best Husbandmen will chuse the Vale-gray as most proper for it.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 152 The hill-country-barley is generally better esteemed by the malsters than the vale-barley.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 152 The vale-lands are generally too wet, cold, and clayey.
1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming 92 The Beech will never make a good Tree in their vale, spewey, and wet Soil.
1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming 221 The Vale-men in their open, low Fields,..won't sow Peas alone.
1740 W. Somervile Hobbinol ii. 7 The Vale-Inhabitants, proud, and elate With Victory.
1815 M. Birkbeck Notes Journey through France 63 The vale farmers are busy sowing lupines..on their wheat stubbles.
1895 Outing 27 194/1 Those Vale farmers, no pen can ever accurately depict.
C3.
vale-born adj.
ΚΠ
1801 Mrs. Robinson Sylphid III. 24 Her emblems are the white rose bending in a graceful curve over the modest vale-born lily.
vale-buried adj.
ΚΠ
1808 E. Sleath Bristol Heiress V. 102 The vale-buried town of Keswick.
C4.
vale-lily n. the lily of the valley.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > lily and allied flowers > lily of the valley
great park lily1538
May lily1548
lily of the valley1563
wood lily1563
liriconfancy1567
May blossoms1578
lily convally1597
valley-lily1597
wood-lily1597
lily-bell1729
vale-lily1823
lily cup1826
mugget1866
1823 T. L. Beddoes Romance of Lily in Album Aug. 260 My tribute shall be sweet tho' small; A cup of the vale-lily bloom Filled with white and liquid woe.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† valen.2
Obsolete. rare.
= dale n.3 1.
ΚΠ
1685 N. Boteler Six Dialogues Sea-services 96 The Pump~vale which is the Trough, wherein the Water that is pumped out runs along the Ship sides and so out of the Scoper holes.
1710 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum II Vale of a Pump, at Sea, is the Term for the Trough by which the Water runs from the Pump along the Ship sides, to the Scupper-holes. [Hence in later Dicts.]
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
valeint.n.3
/ˈveɪli/, U.S. /ˈveɪli/ A. int.
Farewell; goodbye; adieu.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > courteous act or expression > courteous expressions [interjection] > expressions of farewell
farewell1377
farewell itc1385
adieua1393
vale?1555
da-da1573
addio1577
goodbye1578
bye1618
adios1635
bye-bye1639
day-day1697
ta-ta1823
ave1850
sayonara1863
hooray1898
cheero1903
toodle-oo1907
hurroo1913
cheerio1914
pip-pip1919
tooraloo1922
cheery-bye1930
cheers1937
tara1958
ciao1961
toodles1965
tatty-bye1971
toodle-pip1977
?1555 M. Coverdale tr. O. Werdmueller Treat. Death Pref. f.ivv Loue god, leue vanitye, and lyue in Chryst. Vale et fruere cum fortuna.
1556 R. Robinson tr. T. More Utopia (ed. 2) sig. Aiiiv So doynge thou shalt minister vnto me good cause to thinke my labour and paynes herein not altogethers bestowed in vaine. Vale.
1612 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes Don-Quixote: Pt. 1 To Rdr. sig. A iij And herewithall I bid thee farewell, and doe not forget me. Vale.
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Vale, farewel, God be with you, God keep you in health.
1912 L. Inkster (title) Vale, a Book of Verse.
1912 L. Inkster Vale, a Book of Verse 63 Vale. ‘Goodbye, Goodbye!’
B. n.3figurative.1631 F. Lenton Characterismi sig. C He takes his vale for a certaine season to some sinister Sanctuary.
A farewell greeting, letter, etc.; a goodbye, farewell, or leave-taking.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > veil
wrielsc825
veila1325
skleir1362
vale1583
lace shade1772
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > courteous act or expression > [noun] > parting salutation
farewell1393
adieua1425
bonally1488
goodbye1575
vale1583
adios1592
valediction1619
ave1634
vale-dictum1638
sayonara1872
bye-bye1875
hasta la vista1888
valedictory1892
bye1935
arrivederci1938
1583 R. Greene Mamillia i. f. 23v Giuing her the vale with a counterfeit kind of curtesie.
1584 R. Greene Arbasto 24 The thankes I had for this..was a..churlish vale of the old trot Vechia.
1619 S. D'Ewes in J. H. Marsden College Life Time James I (1851) 81 I took my vale of him, with many thanks, and posted homewards.
1626 N. Breton Fantasticks in Wks. (1879) II. 6/2 The Nymphes of the Woodes in consort with the Muses sing an Aue to the Morning, and a Vale to the Sunnes setting.
1675 J. Smith Christian Relig. Appeal i. xi. 103 They must bid an eternal Vale to their admired Law and Temple.
1814 W. Scott Let. 28 July (1932) III. 477 I am going to say my valeo to you for some weeks.
a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1865) II. 128 So instead of laughing gayly, I dropped a tear, and wrote my ‘Vale’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1a1300
n.21685
int.n.3?1555