adjective/pal/
pale (light in color); pale (lacking brightness); pale (dull)
From Old French pale, palle, from Latin pallidus (“pale, pallid”). In Old French one would expect a syncopated *paut, *paude; the form pal(l)e requires a lack of syncope. According to Trésor de la langue française it is a borrowing, though it might also reflect a regional development. Doublet of pallide.