ok, so "hale" is a word meaning healthy => comparative: "haler"

[bizmark]

link (from MSNBC)

"haler" is the word. Funny, they've changed it already so that it says "More robust pope", but for a while it said "Haler-looking pope", and I thought that that was pretty strange. Maybe they meant "healthier"?

edit: ok, thanks guys, I don't know why I didn't think to look at the dictionary but hey, a vocabulary lesson for everybody, right?

 

[amnesiac]

Yup, it means "healthy"
Not a very common word. Probably a good thing they changed it.

Main Entry: 1hale
Pronunciation: 'hA(&)l
Function: adjective
Etymology: partly from Middle English (northern) hale, from Old English hAl; partly from Middle English hail, from Old Norse heill -- more at WHOLE
Date: before 12th century
: free from defect, disease, or infirmity : SOUND; also : retaining exceptional health and vigor <a hale and hearty old man>
synonym see HEALTHY

 

[MrBond]

Dictionary.com

 

[woodie1]

Hale was a word when I went to school but we only had one room so what do I know.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

yes

nik