PAIL  , a bucket, a

vessel for carrying water, milk or other liquids, made of wood or metal or other material, varying in size, and usually of a circular shape and somewhat wider at the top than the bottom . The word is of somewhat obscure origin . The present form points to the O . Eng. paegel, but the sense, that of a small wine-measure, a gill, is difficult to connect with the present one . The earlier forms of the word in Mid . Eng. spell the word payle, paille, and this rather points to a connexion with O . Fr. paelle, payelle, a small pan or flat dish, from Lat. patella, diminutive of Patera, dish . The sense here also presents difficulties, " pail " in English being always a deep vessel .