Middle English Dictionary Entry
exālen v.
Entry Info
| Forms | exālen v. |
| Etymology | L exhālāre. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
Of the 'breath of life': to escape.
Associated quotations
- a1400 Lanfranc (Ashm 1396)149/17 : Spiritus exaliþ, þe whiche þat ben freendis boþe to þe body and also to þe soule.
2.
To give off (vapor); med. to drain (blood from a wound); ~ oute, to flow out.
Associated quotations
- a1400 Lanfranc (Ashm 1396)126/2 : Þei loken if ony þing exale out..as blod or ony other mater.
- a1400 Lanfranc (Ashm 1396)136/9 : Þe blood..may bi þe forseid slendynge þe bettere be exaled.
- (?1440) Palladius (DukeH d.2)1.303 : And se the flood be good ther thow wilt dwelle, For oft of hit exalith myst ympure.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- c1475(1392) *MS Wel.564 (Wel 564)119a/a : R[ecipe] hony & sope medlid togidere & anoynte þe place brent þerwiþ, and so lete it lie iij or iiij houris til þe fumosite of þe hete & of þe brennynge ben exalid & passid awey.
Note: Postdates word.
Note: Quot. belongs to sense 2.
Note: Add gloss: to expel (an exhalation generated by the bodily humors).--notes per MLL