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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

vail.

Profit; return; proceeds.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/veɪl/
  1. Profit; return; proceeds.

    obsolete
  2. Money given to servants by visitors; a gratuity; also vale.

    in-plural · obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English vayle, from Old French vail, from valoir (“to be worth”), from Latin valeō (“to be worth”).

noun/veɪl/
  1. Submission.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English valen; either from Anglo-Norman valer or a clipping of avalen. Compare avale.

verb/veɪl/
  1. To lower, let fall; to allow or cause to sink.

    obsolete · transitive
  2. To lower or “dip” a carried flag or banner in a salute by a forward reducing of the angle of the pike/flagstaff with respect to the ground; in extreme instances, as when saluting a monarch, both the banner and the finial of the pike are allowed to rest upon the ground.

    transitive
  3. To lower a sail, in salute or otherwise.

    intransitive · obsolete
  4. To remove as a sign of deference, as a hat.

    obsolete · transitive
  5. To pay homage, bow, submit, defer (to someone or something); to yield, give way (to something).

    intransitive · obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English valen; either from Anglo-Norman valer or a clipping of avalen. Compare avale.

noun/veɪl/
  1. Archaic form of veil.

    alt-of · archaic
  2. Misspelling of veil.

    alt-of · misspelling
verb/veɪl/
  1. Archaic form of veil.

    alt-of · archaic
  2. Misspelling of veil.

    alt-of · misspelling
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.