vale

American  

[vayl] / veɪl /

noun

• vales
  plural

1. a valley.

2. the world, or mortal or earthly life.

   this vale of tears.

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vale ¹ British  

/ veɪl /

noun

1. a literary word for valley

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vale ² British  

/ ˈvɑːleɪ /

1. farewell; goodbye

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• vales
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of vale

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French val, from Latin vallem, accusative of vallis, vallēs “valley”

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Explanation

A vale is a long depression in the land, usually between two hills and containing a river. A vale is a valley. If you've ever gone to a place where there are mountains, you've seen plenty of mountain ranges, mountaintops, and valleys. Valleys are the low points between hills, and they are also known as vales. A vale often contains a river, because it's the lowest point and therefore somewhere water can settle and flow. If you climb a mountain, you'll see many vales, which are often long and winding. The hills and vales of an area are usually gorgeous and breathtaking.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vale vales

“The NRF forces are present in all strategic positions across the vale to continue the fight,” the group said in a statement on Twitter.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 6, 2021

“Life,” he said, “is a vale of disaster.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2019

And why should the Emerald Isle, so betrayed, not have become this vale of tears?

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 22, 2018

"Often on tour, we'd pull over to a greengrocers somewhere in the middle of some vale, buy some bread and cheese, and just pull off the highway and eat in a field," he says.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2016

You may not find young Hazel’s logic persuasive, but I have trod through this vale of tears longer than you, and from where I’m sitting, she’s not the lunatic.

From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green

Daphne du Maurier set the opening scene of her novel The Glass-Blowers on the terrace of the house, and it is still there much as it was, hidden amid the wooded vales and pastures.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2022

I’ve enjoyed the recent rains and the way they green the vales and rinse clean our precious strip malls, a point of pride for so many L.A. residents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2019

Meanwhile, those huge rainfalls on exposed black dirt wash it to the vales even from the flat ground of our neighborhood.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 19, 2018

Or the Clare Valley, or the southern vales?

From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2017

In his thoughts were vestiges of old skid roads and forgotten farm paths that bled into vales of ghost fern and hollows filled with skunk cabbage.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

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