From OE 'hagol,' from PIE *kaǵhlo- (pebble) — literally 'sky pebbles,' unrelated to the greeting 'hail!'
Pellets of frozen rain that fall in showers from cumulonimbus clouds, often during thunderstorms.
From Old English 'hagol' or 'hægl' (hail, hailstone), from Proto-Germanic *haglaz (hail), from PIE *kaǵhlo- (pebble, small stone). The word is literally 'the pebbles from the sky' — ice pellets named by analogy with stones. The PIE root reveals that early speakers perceived hailstones not as frozen rain but as solid projectiles, small rocks hurled from above. This meteorological term is wholly unrelated to the greeting 'hail!' which derives from Old Norse 'heill' (whole, healthy, uninjured), from PIE *kailo- (whole, uninjured, of good