hæle

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhɛːlɐ]

Etymology 1

From Middle Low German hēlen, from Proto-Germanic *helaną (“to hide, conceal”), cognate with German hehlen (“to fence”) and Dutch helen (“to fence”).

Verb

hæle (imperative hæl, infinitive at hæle, present tense hæler, past tense hælede, perfect tense har hælet)

1. to fence (to sell stolen goods as a middleman)

Inflection

Conjugation of hæle

	Active	Passive
Infinitive	hæle	hæles
Present tense	hæler	hæles
Past tense	hælede	hæledes
Imperative	hæl	-
Participle
Present	hælende
Past	hælet
Gerund	hælen

Derived terms

• hæler
• hæleri

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

hæle c

1. indefinite plural of hæl

Middle English

Noun

hæle

1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of hele (“health”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

hæle (imperative and present tense hæl, passive hæles, simple past hælte, past participle hælt)

1. to heel; to add a heel to, or increase the size of the heel of (a shoe or boot).
2. to bear, endure, stand, tolerate

Old English

Alternative forms

• hæleþ, hæleð

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *haliþ, from Proto-Germanic *haliþaz. Compare cognates: Old Norse halr (“hero, person”), hǫldr (“free-born, prominent yeoman”), also German Held (“hero”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxæ.le/, [ˈhæ.le]

Noun

hæle m (poetic)

1. hero
   • 10th century, Exeter Book Riddle 8‎^[1]:

     Saga hwæt iċ hātte, þe swā scireniġe scēawendwīsan hlūde onhyrġe, hæleþum bodie wilcumena fela wōþe mīnre.

     Say what I am called, who as actress loudly imitate a jester song, proclaim many welcome guests as heroes with my voice.

2. man
3. warrior

Usage notes

• Hæle exhibits various inflectional endings that can be grouped into two separate declensions: a þ-stem declension, matching very few other words like ealu (“beer”), and an a-stem declension (including nom.-acc. sg. hæleþ), matching most masculine nouns.

Declension

þ-stem

Consonant stem, irregular:

	singular	plural
nominative	hæle	hæleþ
accusative	hæle	hæleþ
genitive	hæleþ	hæleþa
dative	hæleþ	hæleþum

a-stem

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	hæleþ	hæleþas
accusative	hæleþ	hæleþas
genitive	hæleþes	hæleþa
dative	hæleþe	hæleþum

Descendants

• Middle English: heleð, haleð, hæleð; hathel (conflation with athel (“nobleman”))
  • English: health
  • Middle Scots: hathill