pail
[peyl]
- bucket.
- the amount filling a pail.
Show More
Origin of pail
before 1000; Middle English payle wooden container, continuing Old English pægel wine container, liquid measure (of unknown orig.; compare Middle Dutch, Low German pegel half pint), by association with Old French paielle pan < Latin patella; see patella
Regional variation note
1. See bucket.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for pail
Contemporary Examples
Homer uses metaphor—‘it was so crowded, it was like bees swarming over a pail of milk.’
Let us try to set aside—preferably forever—the image of the ever-immaculate Romney crouched bare-assed over a pail.
Mitt Romney's 'Missionary in France' Tale Won't Make Us Forget He's RichMichelle Cottle
December 15, 2011
Historical Examples
He disappeared only to return with a pail of cold water to temper the first.
The Leopard WomanStewart Edward White
This man asked me where I was bound with my pail, and I told him.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
Take it out with a wooden ladle, and put it into a small tub or pail.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
Then he went forward, and drew the pail from Amelia's unwilling grasp.
Tiverton TalesAlice Brown
But the others could find no fault with it, and Sereno drained the pail.
Meadow GrassAlice Brown
pail
- a bucket, esp one made of wood or metal
- Also called: pailful the quantity that fills a pail
Show More
Word Origin
Old English pægel; compare Catalan paella frying pan, paella
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for pail
n.
mid-14c., of uncertain origin, probably from Old French paele, paelle "cooking or frying pan, warming pan;" also a liquid measure, from Latin patella "small pan, little dish, platter," diminutive of patina "broad shallow pan, stewpan" (see pan (n.)).
Old English had pægel "wine vessel," but etymology does not support a connection. This Old English word possibly is from Medieval Latin pagella "a measure," from Latin pagella "column," diminutive of pagina (see page (n.1)).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper