ale

[ eyl ]
/ eɪl /

noun

a malt beverage, darker, heavier, and more bitter than beer, containing about 6 percent alcohol by volume.
British. beer.

Origin of ale

before 950; Middle English; Old English ( e)alu (genitive ealoth); cognate with Old Saxon alo-, Middle Dutch ale, ael, Old Norse ǫl; Lithuanian alùs, OCS olŭ; Finnish, Estonian olut; areal word of North Europe

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH ale

ale ail awl

Definition for ale (2 of 2)

A.L.E.

Insurance.

additional living expense.

Example sentences from the Web for ale

British Dictionary definitions for ale

ale
/ (eɪl) /

noun

a beer fermented in an open vessel using yeasts that rise to the top of the brew Compare beer, lager 1
(formerly) an alcoholic drink made by fermenting a cereal, esp barley, but differing from beer by being unflavoured by hops
mainly British another word for beer

Word Origin for ale

Old English alu, ealu; related to Old Norse öl, Old Saxon alofat