# pale

> English word · Adjective · IPA /peɪl/ · frequency rank #6,275

## Definitions
1. Light in color.
2. Having a pallor (a light color, especially due to sickness, shock, fright etc.).
3. Feeble, faint.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Latin palleō
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der.
Latin -idus
Latin pallidus
Old French palebor.
Middle English pale
English pale
From Middle English pale, from Old French pale, from Latin pallidus (“pale, pallid”), from palleō (“to be pale; to grow pale; to fade”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelito-, from *pelH- (“gray”). Doublet of pallid. Displaced native Old English blāc.

## Easily confused with
- **PL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pl)
- **PE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pe)
- **pay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pay)
- **Pan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pan)
- **pat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pat)
- **pie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pie)
- **par** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-par)
- **pee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pee)
- **ppl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-ppl)
- **PLC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-plc)
- **pam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pam)
- **pas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pas)
- **Poe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-poe)
- **paw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-paw)
- **pol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pol)
- **pax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pax)
- **pap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pap)
- **PLA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-pla)
- **ply** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-ply)
- **Paz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pale-vs-paz)

## Common misspellings (4)
`pael`, `palle`, `plae`, `ppale`

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