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stale 1 (stāl)
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adj. stal·er, stal·est
1. Having lost freshness, effervescence, or palatability: stale bread; stale air.
2. Lacking originality or spontaneity: a stale joke.
3. Ineffective or uninspired, usually from being out of practice or from having done the same thing for too long.
4. Law Legally unenforceable because of a claimant's delay in seeking enforcement.
tr. & intr.v. staled, stal·ing, stales
To make or become stale.
[Middle English, settled, clear (used of beer or wine), probably from Old French estale, slack, settled, clear, from estaler, to come to a standstill, halt, from estal, standing place, stand, of Germanic origin; see stel- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
stalely adv.
staleness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
stale 2 (stāl)
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intr.v. staled, stal·ing, stales
To urinate. Used especially of horses and camels.
n.
The urine of certain animals, especially horses and camels.
[Middle English stalen, possibly of Low German origin; akin to Middle Low German stallen.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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