It's the word of the day for June 13th.

Today's word is Hale, spelled H-A-L-E.

Hale is an adjective. Someone described as Hale is in good and often exceptional health. Hale is

commonly used in the phrase hail and hearty. Here's the word used in a sentence from the telegraph.

Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell star in the film Gentleman Prefer Blonds as two vivacious

all-American showgirls whose friendship is as fast as their

attitudes to men are poles apart. Whereas Monroe's Lorelei Lee prizes wealth and devotion in a

suitor, Russell's Dorothy Shaw is more inclined towards the hail and hunky. English has two hail homographs,

the adjective that is frequently paired with hearty

to describe those healthy and strong,

and the somewhat uncommon verb that has to do

with literal or figurative hauling or pulling.

One can hail a boat onto shore

or hail a person into a courtroom with the aid of

legal ramifications for resistance. The verb comes from the Middle English Hallen, also the root

of our word haul, but the adjective has a bifurcated origin with two Middle English terms identified as sources,

Hale H-A-L-E and H-A-I-L. Both of those come from words meaning healthy, the former from

the Old English hal, and the latter from the Old Norse Heil. The Middle English Hale is also the source of three

modern English words spelled H-A-I-L, the verb interjection and noun that have to do with greeting.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.

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