bailey

nouncommon in dialogue

//ˈbeɪli//

The outer wall of a feudal castle.

noun

1
The outer wall of a feudal castle.
2
The space immediately within the outer wall of a castle or fortress.
3
A prison or court of justice.
the Old Bailey in London; the New Bailey in Manchester
4
An argument which is controversial and more difficult to defend (in the context of a motte and bailey fallacy).
"Birds are dinosaurs" is the bailey; "birds are more similar to dinosaurs than anything else" is the motte.

Etymology

From Old French baile (“palisade, enclosure”), from Latin bacula, plural of baculum (“stick, rod”).

Forms

plural: baileys

Bai · An ethnic group of China.bail · Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release…Bail · A surname.

bailey · The outer wall of a feudal castle.

Bailey · A surname.bailiff · An officer of the court A high bailiff: an officer of the…Bailiff · A surname originating as an occupation.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.