Spale

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪl

Alternative forms

• spail, speal, spell, spyle, spile

Origin

From Middle English spale ("splinter"), perhaps partly from Old English *spalu ("flat bar, flake, chip") or Old Norse spǫlr ("plank, rail, bar, short piece of wood"), both from Proto-Germanic *spaluz ("pole, rod, thin bar, lath"); and partly as an alteration of Old English speld ("ember, flake, torch, splinter, thin piece of wood used as a torch"), from Proto-Germanic *speldą ("that which is split, splinter, board"); both from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pala-, *(s)pel- ("to split in two, split in half"). Cognate with Middle High German spale

German dialectal Spale ("a wooden split, wedge")}, Swedish dialectal spalu ("splinter"), Norwegian dialectal spel, spela, spila ("a splinter"), Icelandic spölur ("bit, short piece"). See also split.

Full definition of spale

Noun

1. (Now chiefly dialectal, Scotland) A chip or splinter of wood.
2. A lath; a shaving or chip, as of wood or stone.
3. A strengthening cross timber.
4. (ship-building) One of a number of cross-bands fastened temprarily to the frames to keep them in place until properly secured; a spaling.

Anagrams

• lapse, leaps, pales, peals, pleas, salep, sepal