Words · Familiar
pail
/peɪl/ · 4 letters · 4 distinct letters
- noun
a roughly cylindrical vessel that is open at the top
- noun
the quantity contained in a pail
Word history
From Middle English payle (“bucket, pail, milking pail”), of uncertain origin. Likely from Old English pæġel (“wine vessel, container for liquids, pail; a liquid measure”), from Proto West Germanic *pagil, from Proto Indo European *bak (“peg, club”), equivalent to peg + le. Alternatively from Old French paielle (“frying pan, warming pan; a liquid measure”), from Latin patella (“small pan, shallow dish, platter”), diminutive of patina (“broad shallow pan, stewpan”). Perhaps a conflation of both.
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Why this word counts
- Where it comes from
- Listed in the English Speller Database at size 35: the core list of everyday words.
- How common it is
- Used about once in every million words.
- In the spelling bee
- Daily answer A standard word with a definition we can show, so it can be a daily answer.