Etymology
Derivation from ON, cp. OIcel
bǽla, provides the best explanation for the form, sense and distribution of this uncommon v. In ON (prose) it always occurs in the alliterative phrase
brenna ok bǽla. In ME usage,
MED’s citations show a recurring collocation in ME with
brest,
bale and
bolne, as we find in this instance (‘my breste in bale bot bolne and bele’) (
MED's v.
bēlen is not evidently included in
OED, unless just conceivably the ME spelling variant '?bele' in the entry for the v.
boil is meant to refer to it). The ON v. is presumably formed on the more common n. represented by OIcel
bál ‘fire, funeral pyre, blaze’, cognate with OE
bǣl ‘fire, flame’ (< PGmc
*ƀēl-), ult. related to a PIE adj.
*bhel ‘white’ (see
bale (2)(n.)).
OED cautiously suggests that
bele could be a form of
boil (v.), or related to a variant
beal (n.) of
boil (n.) (< OE
bȳl ‘boil’) via a sense of 'to become inflamed, fester' (cp.
beal v. and
beal n.1); this latter option is also explored by Luttrell (1955: 207–9), who is however unable to supply a convincing etymon.
PGmc Ancestor
ƀēl-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
bǽla ‘to burn’
(ONP bǽla (vb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Icel bæla
OE Cognate
bǣl (n.) ‘fire, flame’
Phonological and morphological markers
Summary category
C1c