- hail (interj.)
- "greetings!" c.1200, from a Scandinavian source, cf. Old Norse heill "health, prosperity, good luck;" and from Old English hals, shortening of wæs hæil "be healthy" (see health and cf. wassail).
- hail (n.)
- "frozen rain," Old English hægl, hagol (Mercian hegel) "hail, hailstorm," also the name of the rune for H, from West Germanic *haglaz (cf. Old Frisian heil, Old Saxon, Old High German hagal, Old Norse hagl, German Hagel "hail"), probably from PIE *kaghlo- "pebble" (cf. Greek kakhlex "round pebble").
- hail (v.1)
- "to call from a distance," 1560s, originally nautical, from hail (interj.). Related: Hailed; hailing. Hail fellow well met is 1580s, from a familiar greeting. Hail Mary (c.1300) is the angelic salutation (Latin ave Maria), cf. Luke i:58, used as a devotional recitation. As a desperation play in U.S. football, attested by 1940. To hail from is 1841, originally nautical. "Hail, Columbia," the popular patriotic song, was a euphemism for "hell" in American English slang from c.1850-1910.
- hail (v.2)
- Old English hagolian, from root of hail (n.). Related: Hailed; hailing. Figurative use from mid-15c.