vail

/veɪl/

vail noun: profit; return; proceeds. Also the archaic form of veil.

Noun (1)

vail (plural vails)

(obsolete) Profit; return; proceeds.
- My house is as t’were the Caue, where the yong Out-lawe hoords the stolne vayles of his occupation […]1605, George Chapman, Ben Jonson, John Marston, Eastward Hoe, London: William Aspley, act II, scene 2
(in plural, obsolete) Money given to servants by visitors; a gratuity; also vale.
- Do you remember, how many Rich Gowns and Petticoats, how many lac’d Pinners, Hoods, Scarfs, and Nightrails, I have given you, since the three Years you have serv’d me, together with many other Vails, Perquisites, and Profits you have enjoy’d in my Service?1696, John Dryden, The Husband His Own Cuckold, London: J. Tonson, act I, scene 1, page 9
- […] it is a maxim among the gentlemen of our cloth, that those masters who promise the most, perform the least; and I have often heard them say, they have found the largest vails in those families where they were not promised any.1742, Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews, London: Harrison & Co., published 1780, Volume I, Book 2, Chapter 16, p. 91

Noun (2)

vail (plural vails)

(obsolete) Submission.

Verb

vail (third-person singular simple present vails, present participle vailing, simple past and past participle vailed)

(obsolete, transitive) To lower, let fall; to allow or cause to sink.
- Then let them vale a bonet of their proud ſayle,c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.
- […] when he shall know it lies in vs,
  To banish him, and then to call him home,
  Twill make him vaile the topflag of his pride,
  And feare to offend the meanest noble man.1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC...
(transitive) To lower or “dip” a carried flag or banner in a salute by a forward reducing of the angle of the pike/flagstaff with respect to the ground; in extreme instances, as when saluting a monarch, both the banner and the finial of the pike are allowed to rest upon the ground.
(intransitive, obsolete) To lower a sail, in salute or otherwise.
- Both we will walke vpon the loftie cliffes,
  And Chriſtian Merchants that with Ruſſian ſtems
  Plow vp huge furrowes in the Caſpian ſea,
  Shall vaile to vs, as Lords of al the Lake.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
(obsolete, transitive) To remove as a sign of deference, as a hat.
- […] Now the time is come
  That France must vail her lofty-plumed crest
  And let her head fall into England’s lap.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- […] the Templar […], without vailing his bonnet, or testifying any reverence for the alleged sanctity of the relic, took from his neck a gold chain, which he flung on the board […]1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co....
(intransitive, obsolete) To pay homage, bow, submit, defer (to someone or something); to yield, give way (to something).
- She would with rich and constant pen
  Vail to her mistress Dian;c. 1607–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, [George Wilkins?], The Late, and Much Admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: […] [William White and Thomas Creede] for Henry...
- […] when a Man does not readily vail to the Opinions of approved Authors, which have been received with respect and submission by others1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 4, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book IV, page 346

Proper noun capitalized: Vail

Vail (countable and uncountable, plural Vails)

A surname.
A census-designated place in Arizona, United States.
A town in Eagle County, Colorado, United States.
A city in Iowa, United States.

Also used as

vail is also the archaic form of veil.

vail is also the misspelling of veil.

vail meaning in Odia

vail in Odia

ଭାଇଲ

Forms of vail

Noun
plural	vails
Verb
third-person singular present	vails
present participle	vailing
past participle	vailed
past	vailed
Proper noun
plural	Vails

Origin of vail

From Middle English vayle, from Old French vail, from valoir (“to be worth”), from Latin valeō (“to be worth”).

From Middle English valen; either from Anglo-Norman valer or a clipping of avalen. Compare avale.

The town in Colorado was named after Vail Pass, which in turn was named after highway engineer Charles Vail. The surname likely comes from the obsolete term vail, meaning "submission", of Anglo-Norman origin.

Words formed from vail

Words that rhyme with vail

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about vail

What does vail mean?: Vail means profit; return; proceeds.
What is vail in Odia?: Vail in Odia is ଭାଇଲ. See Vail meaning in Odia.
What part of speech is vail?: Vail can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce vail?: Vail is pronounced /veɪl/.
What is the plural of vail?: The plural of vail is vails.

Words near vail in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: vail (page history and authors); Vail (page history and authors); vail (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-vail.wav.

Cite this entry: “vail.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vail. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.