Vale or veil?
vale is a noun meaning “A valley”; veil is a noun meaning “Something hung up or spread out to hide or protect the face, or hide an object…”. They sound the same (/veɪl/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) veil is about as common as vale.
What is the difference between vale and veil?
| vale | veil | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, interjection | noun, verb |
| Meaning | A valley Farewell | 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 | Vale, Sarah Smith | a nun's veil |
| Forms | vales | veils |
| Pronunciation | /veɪl/ [veɪɫ] /ˈvɑːleɪ/ | /veɪl/ |
| In writing | 4.2 times per million words | 4.6 times per million words |
Sources: vale 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 vale and veil
vale
- 1
A valley
- 2
Farewell
Vale, Sarah Smith
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, vale or veil?
vale appears 4.2 times per million words; veil 4.6 times per million words.
vale 4.2 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 vale vs veil?
“vale vs veil” is searched about 110 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“veil vs vale”, “vale 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.