# ale

> English word · Noun · IPA /eɪl/ · frequency rank #11,500

## Definitions
1. A beer made without hops.
2. A beer produced by so-called warm fermentation and not pressurized.
3. A festival in English country places, so called from the liquor drunk.

## Etymology
From Middle English ale, from Old English ealu, ealo, from Proto-West Germanic *alu, from Proto-Germanic *alu (compare Dutch aal, Swedish öl), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elut- (“beer”), or *h₂elu- (“bitter”). Compare Russian ол (ol), Lithuanian alùs, Armenian օղի (ōġi); compare also Latin alum (“comfrey”), alūta (“tawed leather”), Ancient Greek ἀλύδοιμος (alúdoimos, “bitter”).

## Easily confused with
- **as** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-as)
- **at** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-at)
- **an** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-an)
- **AM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-am)
- **AP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-ap)
- **aw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-aw)
- **AR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-ar)
- **AU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-au)
- **AZ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-az)
- **av** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-av)
- **ay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-ay)
- **ao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-ao)
- **ax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-ax)
- **and** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-and)
- **are** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-are)
- **all** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-all)
- **any** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-any)
- **ask** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-ask)
- **art** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-art)
- **ass** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ale-vs-ass)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ale