vale
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of vale
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French val, from Latin vallem, accusative of vallis, vallēs “valley”
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.
Vocabulary lists containing vale
The Fellowship of the Ring
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 2
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“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
It’s the technocratic version of a promise of eternal bliss after we depart this vale of tears.
From The Guardian ● May 26, 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
Far inward they glimpsed a tumbled mountain-mass with one tall peak, at the mouth of the vale there stood like a sentinel a lonely height.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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
Along the way, so much wonder and adventure was found in the hills and vales of the Mountain State.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 28, 2016
‘That is the road to the vales of Tumladen and Lossarnach, and the mountain-villages, and then on to Lebennin,’ said Beregond.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
