To wrap or bind something tightly, especially to pack goods into a bale or bundle for transport.
From em- (in) + bale (bundle, roll of goods), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German. The word became standardized in English shipping and trade vocabulary by the 14th century.
Medieval merchants used this term when wrapping wool, flax, and cotton into massive bundles that could survive months of travel on ships—a crucial skill in the trade networks that built the modern world.
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