Editing The Pale (section)

==Etymology==
The word ''pale'', meaning a fence, is derived from the Latin word ''{{Wikt-lang|la|palus|pālus}}'', meaning "stake", specifically a stake used to support a fence.<ref>"palus." ''Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary''. MICRA, Inc. 22 December 2009.</ref> A paling fence is made of pales ganged side by side, and the word ''[[palisade]]'' is derived from the same root. From this came the figurative meaning of "boundary". The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' is dubious about the popular notion that the phrase ''[[Wiktionary:beyond the pale|beyond the pale]]'', as something outside the boundary—i.e., uncivilised, derives from this specific Irish meaning.<ref>[[OED]], "Pale": "The theory that the origin of the phrase relates to any of several specific regions, such as the area of Ireland formerly called the Pale (see sense 4b) or the Pale of Settlement in Russia (see sense 4c), is not supported by the early historical evidence and is likely to be a later rationalization."</ref> Also derived from the "boundary" concept was the idea of a pale as an area within which local laws were valid. The term was used not only for the Pale in Ireland but also for various other English overseas settlements, notably [[Pale of Calais|English Calais]]. The term was also used to refer to specific regions in other nations: the term [[Pale of Settlement]] was applied to the area in the west of [[Imperial Russia]] where Jews were permitted to reside.<ref>See [[wikt:pale#English|'pale']], English: Etymology 2.6. on Wiktionary.</ref>