Spale Definition

noun

(Now chiefly dialectal, Scotland) A chip or splinter of wood.

Wiktionary

A lath; a shaving or chip, as of wood or stone.

Wiktionary

A strengthening cross timber.

Wiktionary
(ship-building) One of a number of cross-bands fastened temprarily to the frames to keep them in place until properly secured; a spaling.
Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Spale

Noun

Singular:
spale
Plural:
spales

Origin of Spale

  • From Middle English spale (“splinter”), perhaps partly from Old English *spalu (“flat bar, flake, chip”) or Old Norse spǫlr (“plank, rail, bar, short piece of wood”), both from Proto-Germanic *spaluz (“pole, rod, thin bar, lath”); and partly as an alteration of Old English speld (“ember, flake, torch, splinter, thin piece of wood used as a torch”), from Proto-Germanic *speldą (“that which is split, splinter, board”); both from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pala-, *(s)pel- (“to split in two, split in half”). Cognate with Middle High German spale ("rung of a ladder"; > German dialectal Spale (“a wooden split, wedge”)), Swedish dialectal spalu (“splinter”), Norwegian dialectal spel, spela, spila (“a splinter”), Icelandic spölur (“bit, short piece”). See also split.

    From Wiktionary

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