Word of the Day

Monday August 31, 2009

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hale [HAYL]

adjective

1. Free from disease; healthy; robust.

• The hale and hearty, for example, will generally rate life in a wheelchair lower than will the wheelchair-bound, who often find fulfillment in ways "healthier" persons couldn't imagine.
  Michael Hiltzik, "Putting a price on quality of life", Los Angeles Times, Jun 22, 2009
• After half an hour, she had deduced that his granddad had gone missing in central Europe, developed amnesia, settled down behind the Iron Curtain and raised a large family before retiring. The good - if entirely improbable - news was that he was still hale and hearty save for a nagging doubt that someone, somewhere was looking for him.
  Conor Pope, "Predicting profits", Irish Times, May 4, 2009

Origin of the Word

Hale, approximately 1325, derives from Old English hal "health"; whole.