ale

UK: /ˈeɪl/ US: /eɪl/ ,(āl)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ale /eɪl/   n. [uncountable* countable]

1. Wine an alcoholic beverage that is made from malt and is darker and more bitter than beer.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ale  (āl), n. 

1. British Terms, Wine a malt beverage, darker, heavier, and more bitter than beer, containing about 6 percent alcohol by volume.
2. British Terms beer.

• bef. 950; Middle English; Old English (e)alu (genitive ealoth); cognate with Old Saxon alo-, Middle Dutch ale, ael, Old Norse ǫl; Lithuanian alùs, Old Church Slavonic olù; Finnish, Estonian olut; areal word of North Europe

A.L.E., [Insurance.]

1. additional living expense.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

ale / eɪl/ noun

1. a beer fermented in an open vessel using yeasts that rise to the top of the brew
   Compare beer, lager1
2. (formerly) an alcoholic drink made by fermenting a cereal, esp barley, but differing from beer by being unflavoured by hops
3. 
   another word for beer

Etymology: Old English alu, ealu; related to Old Norse öl, Old Saxon alofat