name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
vail
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/veɪl/
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rhymes with -eɪl
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homophone: vail
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homophone: vale
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homophone: veil
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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homophone: Vail
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CMU ARPABET: V EY1 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
name
Meaning 2
A placename
A census-designated place in Arizona, United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 3
A placename
A town in Colorado, United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 4
A placename
A city in Iowa, United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
Profit; return; proceeds.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
Money given to servants by visitors; a gratuity; also vale.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: in-plural, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
Submission.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
Archaic form of veil.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, archaic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
Misspelling of veil.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, misspelling
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 10
To lower, let fall; to allow or cause to sink.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 11
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Topics: history, human-sciences, sciences, vexillology
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 12
To lower a sail, in salute or otherwise.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive, obsolete
Topics: nautical, transport
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 13
To remove as a sign of deference, as a hat.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 14
To pay homage, bow, submit, defer (to someone or something); to yield, give way (to something).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive, obsolete
Examples
- 1692, Robert South, Discourses on Various Subjects and Occasions, Boston: Bowles & Dearborn, 1827, Discourse 5, p. 370, Thy convenience must vail to thy neighbour’s necessity.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 15
Archaic form of veil.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, archaic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 16
Misspelling of veil.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, misspelling
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
The town in Colorado was named after Vail Pass, which in turn was named after highway engineer Charles Vail. The surname likely comes from the obsolete term vail, meaning "submission", of Anglo-Norman origin.
From Middle English vayle, from Old French vail, from valoir (“to be worth”), from Latin valeō (“to be worth”).
From Middle English valen; either from Anglo-Norman valer or a clipping of avalen. Compare avale.