a general name for beer made with a top fermenting yeast; in some of the United States an ale is (by law) a brew of more than 4% alcohol by volume
"The local brewery serves its traditional ale, which meets the state's legal requirement of containing over four percent alcohol by volume."
A beer made without hops.
"The ancient brewer brewed an ale without adding any bittering hops to create a uniquely sweet taste."
A surname.
"Mr. Ale was known throughout the village as a generous neighbor."
The word ale comes from Old English ealu and traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "beer" or something bitter. It has been used in the Germanic language family for thousands of years before entering Middle English with its current sense of an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain.