# wail
## English
### Pronunciation

* enPR: wāl, IPA: /weɪl/, [weɪɫ]
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪl
* Homophone: wale
* Homophone: whale (wine–whine merger)

### Etymology 1

c. 1300, Middle English weilen, waylen (“to sob, cry, wail”), from Old Norse væla (“to wail”), from væ, vei (“woe”), from Proto-Germanic *wai (whence also Old English wā (“woe”) (English woe)), from Proto-Indo-European *wáy.
The verb is first attested in the intransitive sense; the transitive sense developed in mid-14th c.. The noun came from the verb.

#### Verb

wail (third-person singular simple present wails, present participle wailing, simple past and past participle wailed)
* (intransitive) To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
    Synonyms: groan, moan
* (intransitive) To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
    Synonyms: burst into tears; see also Thesaurus:weep
* (intransitive) To make a noise like mourning or crying.
    Synonyms: keen, ululate
    The wind wailed and the rain streamed down.
* (transitive) To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
    Synonyms: lament, mourn; see also Thesaurus:lament
    to wail one's death
** 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act 3, scene 2]:My lord, wise men ne'er sit and wail their woes
* (slang, music) To perform with great liveliness and force.
** 1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer:Another outstanding surfer from Hawaii - Fred Hemmings. Fred only stands up on alternate Wednesdays, but when he does, he really wails.
** 1999, Lewis A. Erenberg, Swingin' the Dream: Big Band Jazz and the Rebirth of American Culture‎, page 111:At Boston's Roseland, as "the Count's band was wailing," he grabbed Mamie, an avid dancer. The "band was screaming when she kicked off her shoes and got barefooted
** 2012, Robert Lewis Barrett, A Portrait of the First Born As a Child‎, page 377:The band was really wailing as we quickly made our dance moves in a most provocative manner.
** 2013, Joan Silber, Fools‎, →ISBN:We had a nondenominational wedding, with a bunch of great Sufi musicians really wailing, and my wildly enthusiastic mother in attendance.

##### Derived terms

* bewail
* wailer
* wail on
* wailingly

##### Translations

Bikol Central: haya
Bulgarian: ридая (bg) (ridaja), оплаквам (bg) (oplakvam)
Catalan: plorar (ca), lamentar-se (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 哀泣 (oi$^1$ jap$^1$) (literary)
Mandarin: 哀泣 (zh) (āiqì) (literary)
Danish: jamre, klage (da)
Egyptian: (jwjw)
Finnish: ulista (fi), itkeä (fi)
French: se lamenter (fr), vagir (fr)
Galician: laiar, salaiar, lanxir
German: heulen (de), wehklagen (de) (obsolete)
Gothic: 𐌵𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌽 (qainōn)
Greek:
Ancient: ὀδύρομαι (odúromai)
Hungarian: sír (hu), siránkozik (hu)
Ingrian: ulissa
Italian: lamentarsi (it), gemere (it), piagnucolare (it)
Mpade: swe
Old English: rēotan
Persian: گریه و زاری کردن (gerye-o-zâri kardan)
Russian: выть (ru) (vytʹ), вопи́ть (ru) (vopítʹ), стена́ть (ru) (stenátʹ), причита́ть (ru) (pričitátʹ)
Spanish: llorar (es)
Turkish: mızmızlanmak (tr) (lament / informal)
ǃXóõ: gǃkxʻáã :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Noun

wail (plural wails)
* A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish. [from 15th c.]
    She let out a loud, doleful wail.
* Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.
    The wail of snow-dark winter winds.
    A bird's wail in the night.
* A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.

##### Derived terms

* widow-wail

##### Translations
#### References

* ↑ Merriam-Webster
* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “wail”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “wail”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Etymology 2

From Old Norse val (“choice”). Compare Icelandic velja (“to choose”). More at wale.

#### Verb

wail (third-person singular simple present wails, present participle wailing, simple past and past participle wailed)
* (obsolete) Synonym of wale (“to choose; to select”)
** c. 1500, Robert Henryson, The Testament of Cresseid:Wailed wine and metes

#### References

* “wail”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “wail”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* “wail”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

### Anagrams

* wali, wila, wāli

## Asilulu
### Noun

wail
* water

### References

* James T. Collins, The Historical Relationships of the Languages of Central Maluku, Indonesia (1983), page 70

## Cebuano
### Etymology

Blend of wala (“not”) +‎ ilhi (“known, recognized”)

### Pronunciation

* Hyphenation: wa‧il
* IPA: /waˈʔil/ [wɐˈʔil̪]
* Rhymes: -il

### Noun

wail (Badlit spelling ᜏᜁᜎ᜔)
* an insignificant person
* an unknown person or thing
* an unknown celebrity or politician