Forms: 1 alu (WS. ealu, ealo), 2– ale (5 aale, aylle, 5–6 alle, Sc. 6–7 ail, aill; in mod. dial. yale, yall, yaäle, yell, yill). [OE. alu, cogn. w. OS. alo, ON. öl (:—alu), has been shown by Mr. J. Platt to be a -t stem:—*alut, hence gen. and dat. aloð, ealoð, 12th c. aleð:—*alutaz, aluti: see first quot.]
1. An intoxicating liquor made from an infusion of malt by fermentation. Various ingredients have at various times been added to impart flavor; at present hops or other bitters are in use.
Ale and beer seem originally to have been synonymous. The Alvismál says ‘öl heitir með mönnum, en með′ Asum bjórr,’ it is called ‘ale’ among men, and among the gods ‘beer.’ After the introduction into England of ‘the wicked weed called hops’ (Retn. to Edw. VI’s Parlt.) c. 1524, ‘beer’ was commonly hopped; at present ‘beer’ is in the trade the generic name for all malt liquors, ‘ale’ being specifically applied to the paler colored kinds, the malt for which has not been roasted or burnt; but the popular application of the two words varies in different localities.
c. 940. Sax. Leechd., II. 268. Do healfne bollan ealoð to, and ʓehæte þæt ealu.
c. 1000. Hept. Judg. xiii. 4. Ne he ealu ne drince nǽfre oððe win.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 13. Þe man be hit meðeð riht · Þe suneð aleð gestninge.
1205. Layam., 24440. Ne mai hit na mon suggen on his tale; of þan win and of þan ale.
a. 1300. Havelok, 14. Fil me a cuppe of ful god ale.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. V. 219. I bouȝte hir barly malte · she brewe it to selle, Peny ale and podyng ale.
1466. Paston’s Funer., in Lett., 549, II. 268. For vii barels of bere, xviis. vid.—For iiii barels of alle, xiiis. iiiid.
1485. Malory, Arthur (1816), II. 445. Wyn & aale.
1531[?]. Plumpton Corr., 230. I am faine to eate browne bread & drink small alle.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scotl., II. 660. Of wyne and aill takand thame sic ane fill.
1542. Boorde, Dietary, x. 256. Ale is made of malte and water; and they the whiche do put any other thynge to ale than is rehersed, except yest, barme, or godesgood, doth sofysticat theyr ale.
1594. Plat, Jewel-ho., III. 16. It is the Hoppe onelie which maketh the essential difference betweene Beere and Ale.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., III. i. 304. Item, she brewes good Ale. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., V. iv. 11. Do you looke for Ale and Cakes heere, you rude raskalls?
1725. Bradley, Fam. Dict., s.v. Malt Liquor, Ale is more diuretick than Beer; that is, unhopp’d Liquor more than that which has Hops in it.
1770. J. Massie, Tax on Malt, 8. A Pint of Ale or strong Beer, costs the Ale-seller, only Five Farthings.
1853. Thackeray, Engl. Hum., 240. Then they sallied forth for Rochester on foot, and drank by the way three pots of ale.
[1864. Tennyson, North. Farmer. I’ve ’ed my point o’ yaäle ivry noight sin’ I beän ’ere.]
† 2. In the phrases at the ale (at þen ale, at þe nale, atten ale, atte nale, at nale), and to the ale, ‘the ale’ is put for, a. The ale which is being drunk, hence ale-drinking; b. The stock or supply of ale at the disposal of the public, and hence the place where the ale is, the ale-house. Obs.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. Prol. 42. Feyneden hem for heore foode, fouȝten atte alle [v.r. at þe ale, at þe nale, at nale].
c. 1386. Chaucer, Freres T., 49. And make hym grete feestes atte nale [v.r. at þe nale, att nale].
1480. Caxton, Descr. Brit., 40. When they drynke atte ale They telle many a lewd tale.
c. 1500. Carp. Tools, in Halliw., Nug. Poet., 19. When thei have wroght an oure ore two, Anone to the ale thei wylle go.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., II. v. 61. Thou hast not so much charity in thee as to go to the Ale with a Christian.
1617. Assheton, Jrnl. (1848), 1. Besse, John, wyffe, self, at ale.
† c. In (his) ale: in the midst of drinking, under the influence of ale. Obs.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., 86. What, art thou in aylle?
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., IV. vii. 47. As Alexander kild his friend Clytus, being in his Ales and his Cuppes.
3. A festival or merry-meeting at which much ale was drunk; an ale-drinking. (Cf. a tea.) See also BRIDAL.
1076. O. E. Chron. Ðær wæs þæt bryd ealo … Ealle þa Bryttas þe wæron at þam bryd ealoð.
1544. Supplic. Hen. VIII., 41. Keapinge of church ales, in the whiche with leappynge, daunsynge and kyssying they maynteyne the profeit of their churche.
1583. Babington, Wks., 166. Gadding to this ale or that.
1587. Harrison, England, I. II. i. (1877), 32. The superfluous numbers of idle waks … church-ales, helpe-ales and soule-ales called also dirge-ales with the heathenish rioting at bride-ales are well diminished.
1635. J. Taylor (Water P.), Life of T. Parr, C ij b. T’a Whitson Ale, Wake, Wedding, or a Faire.
1857. Toulmin Smith, Parish, 504. There was also an Ale called the Mary-Ale, held, it must be presumed, on one of the days consecrated to the Virgin Mary.
1879. Jefferies, Wild Life in S. Co., 140. In this locality, Clerk’s Ale, which used to be rather an event, is quite extinct.
1882. Skeat, Etym. Dict., s.v., Bridal, lit. a bride-ale. (There were leet-ales, scot-ales, church-ales, clerk-ales, bed-ales, and bride-ales.)
† 4. Buttered ale: a beverage composed of sugar, cinnamon, butter, and beer brewed without hops. Obs.
1662. Pepys, Diary, 5 Dec. And give him a morning draught of buttered ale. Ibid. (1667), 28 Sept. It will cost him … £300. in ale, and £52. in buttered ale.
B. Ale- in comb.
I. General syntactic relations.
1. objective: with active pple., as ale-brewing, -drinking, -swilling, etc.; or obj. genitive with n. of agent or action, as ale-brewer, -dealer, -drinker, -monger, -seller, -selling, etc.; ale-taker, -tunning; ALE-CONNER, -TASTER.
c. 1510. Cocke Lorelles Bote, 8. Potycaryes, ale brewers, and bakers.
1765. Tucker, Lt. of Nat., I. 475. The speciallest species of ale-drinking … rhetoricians.
1769. Buchan, Dom. Med., vii. (1826), 36. There are few great ale-drinkers who are not phthisical.
1786. Cowper, Corr. (1824), II. 91. A shoemaker and an alemonger have proposed themselves as joint candidates to succeed us.
1833. Gen. P. Thompson, Exerc. (1842), II. 490. If the ale-dealers keep any of the razors for their own use.
2. instrumental: with passive pple., as ale-blown, -born, -crummed, -fed, -washed.
1592. Chettle, Kind-Harts Dr. (1841), 15. Where the one in a sweaking treble, the other in an ale-blowen base, carowle out such adultrous ribaudry.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., III. vi. 82. Ale-washt Wits.
1599. Nashe, P. Peniless, E ij. Elderton consumed his ale-crummed nose to nothing.
1836. Gen. P. Thompson, Exerc. (1842), IV. 152. That ale-born business the Restoration.
3. attrib. Of, made of or with, ale, as ale-sop, -stain; ale-brue, -meat, -toast, -wort; ALE-BERRY.
c. 1450. in Wright, Voc., 242. Hec offa, a ale-sope.
4. attrib. Of, for, or connected with (the manufacture, sale, or use of) ale, as ale-brewhouse, -cup, -duty, -feast, -glass, -pot, -tun, etc. Also ALE-BENCH, -BUSH, -COST, -DRAPER, -HOOF, -HOUSE, -KNIGHT, -POLE, -STAKE, -WIFE; and most of those in II. as ale-barrel, -dame, etc.
a. 1000. Beowulf, 995. Se þe on handa bær hroden ealo-wǽʓe.
c. 1500. Col. Blowbol, in Halliw., Nug. Poet., 1. He rensyd had many an ale picher.
1583. Babington, Wks., 165. Idle, or tossing the alepot with their neighbours.
1620. Venner, Via Recta, ii. 39. Our common Ale-pot drunkards.
1699. Lond. Gaz., mmmdxiii/4. A small Ale-brewhouse.
1777. Watson, in Phil. Trans., LXVIII. 876. A narrow-bottomed ale glass.
II. Special combinations with quotations in alphabetical order).
Ale-barrel, a barrel for ale, a measure of 36 (formerly 32) gallons; † ale-boly, ? = ale-bouilli, ALE-BERRY; † ale-brue, = ALE-BERRY; † ale-dagger, one worn for use in ale-house brawls; † ale-dame, = ALE-WIFE1; † ale-fat (= ale-vat); ale-firkin, a small barrel of ale, a measure of 9 (formerly 8) gallons; ale-gallon (see quot.); ale-grains, refuse malt left after brewing; ale-grounds (? = prec.); ale-kilderkin, a half-barrel of ale; † ale-man (see quot.); † ale-meat, = ALE-BERRY; † ale-passion, headache after drinking ale; † ale-pock, an ulcer caused by drinking ale; ale-score, a reckoning for ale consumed; † ale-shot (= prec.); † ale-silver (see quot.); † ale-stand, the bar of an ale-house; † ale-taker, purveyor of ale; ale-tap, strictly the tap whence ale is drawn, hence the room or place where it is kept; † ale-toast, a toast in ale, fig. a roisterer or tippler; † ale-tunning, brewing of ale; ale-vat, a vat in which ale is brewed; ale-wort, the fermenting infusion of malt; ale-yeast, yeast produced in the brewing of ale.
1743. Lond. & Country Brewer, II. (ed. 2), 157. The *Ale-Barrel of 32 Gallons.
1828. Carlyle, Misc. (1857), I. 201. Computing excise-dues upon tallow, and gauging *alebarrels!
c. 1500. Col. Blowbol, in Halliw., Nug. Poet., 1. And afterward their toke hym many a throw Of good *ale boly that he had i-blowe.
1542. Boorde, Dyetary, xii. (1870), 264. *Ale-brues, caudelles and colesses for weke men and feble stomackes … is suffered.
1589. Pappe w. Hatchet (1844), 8. He that drinkes with cutters, must not be without his *ale dagger.
1694. Westmacott, Script. Herb., 230. These things are not so much as thought on by our *Ale-dames.
a. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 142. Under þæt *ealo-fæt.
1596. Unton Invent., 13. One *yelfate, one cooler.
1608. Armin, Nest Ninn. (1842), 36. Jack Miller sang his song … and lookt like the poter of the *ale-fat.
1743. Lond. & Country Brewer, II. (ed. 2), 157. The *Ale-firkin of 8 Gallons.
1800. Coleridge, Sib. Leaves, II. 223. They snatch’d him from the sickle and the plough To gauge *ale-firkins.
1827. Hutton, Course Math., I. 28. The *Ale Gallon contained 282 cubic or solid inches.
1630. J. Taylor (Water P.), Wks., I. 147/2. A messe of warme *Ale-graines from a Brewhouse.
1572. B. Googe, trans. Heresbach’s Husb. (1586), 133. Take a quart of *allegroundes, and seeth them.
1743. Lond. & Country Brewer, II. (ed. 2), 157. The *Ale-Kilderkin of 16 Gallons.
1693. W. Robertson, Phraseol. Gen., 504. An *Aleman, or ale-house-keeper.
1699. Phil. Trans., XXI. 403. The Diet … was of Mutton-Broth, *Ale-Meat, Poacht-Eggs.
1593. Bacchus Bountie, in Harl. Misc. (1809), II. 271. A passing preseruatiue against the *ale-passion, or paine in the pate.
1601. Holland, Pliny (1634), II. 128. Sauce-fleame, *ale-pocks, and such like vlcers in the face.
1816. Q. Rev., XV. 454. The *ale-scores of a village landlady.
1626. Spelman, Gloss. Arch., 506. Quasi dictum à scot, i. pecunia, et ale, i. cervisia: quod inverso vocabulo alii an *aleshot nuncupant.
1691. Blount, Law Dict., *Ale-silver, a Rent or Tribute yearly paid to the Lord Maior of London, by those that sell Ale within the City.
1588. Marprel. Ep. (1843), 54. Whereby he might … visit the *alestond.
1455. in Househ. Ord. (1790), 20. The *Aletakers—Richard Joskyn, etc.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, II. Pref. 3. And when I die, as needs must hap, Then bury me under the good *ale-tap.
1691. Shadwell, Scowrers, I. i. Wks. IV. 313. Every night thou clearest the streets of … idle rascals, and of all *Ale-toasts and Sops in brandy.
a. 1529. Skelton, in Harl. Misc. (Malh.), III. 476. Elynoor Rummin, with her good *ale-tunning.
a. 1000. ‘Ealaþ-wyrt, cervisia mustea’ Somner.
1737. Bracken, Farriery (1756), I. xxvi. 225. Give the Horse … two quarts of warm *Ale-wort.
1741. Compl. Fam.-Piece, I. ii. 194. Take … a Pint of good *Ale-yeast.
