Vail or veil?
vail is a verb meaning “To lower or “dip” a carried flag or banner in a salute by a forward reducing of…”; veil is a noun meaning “Something hung up or spread out to hide or protect the face, or hide an object…”. Use vail as a verb and veil as a noun (veil is also a verb: “To dress in, or decorate with, a veil”). They sound the same (/veɪl/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) veil is about 4.0 times as common as vail.
What is the difference between vail and veil?
| vail | veil | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | To lower or “dip” a carried flag or banner in a salute by a forward reducing of the angle of the pike/flagstaff with respect to the ground; in extreme… | Something hung up or spread out to hide or protect the face, or hide an object from view; usually of gauze, crepe, or similar diaphanous material Anything that partially obscures a clear view To dress in, or decorate with, a veil |
| Example | Then let them vale a bonet of their proud ſayle | a nun's veil |
| Forms | vails, vailing, vailed | veils |
| Pronunciation | /veɪl/ | /veɪl/ |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words | 4.6 times per million words |
Sources: vail and veil in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of vail and veil
vail
- 1
To lower or “dip” a carried flag or banner in a salute by a forward reducing of the angle of the pike/flagstaff with respect to the ground; in extreme instances, as when saluting a monarch, both the…
veil
- 1
Something hung up or spread out to hide or protect the face, or hide an object from view; usually of gauze, crepe, or similar diaphanous material
- 2
To dress in, or decorate with, a veil
- 3
Anything that partially obscures a clear view
- 4
To conceal as with a veil
The forest fire was veiled by smoke, but I could hear it clearly
- 5
A cover; disguise; a mask; a pretense
- 6
A covering for a person or thing; as, a caul (especially over the head)
a nun's veil
- 7
The calyptra of mosses
- 8
velum (A circular membrane round the cap of a medusa)
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, vail or veil?
vail appears 1.1 times per million words; veil 4.6 times per million words.
vail 1.1 times per million wordsveil 4.6 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search vail vs veil?
“vail vs veil” is searched about 320 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“veil vs vail”, “vail or veil”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.