-al

See also: Appendix:Variations of "al"

Languages (27)

Abenaki • Asturian • Catalan • Danish • Dutch • Esperanto • French • Galician • German • Hungarian • K'iche' • Latin • Lepontic • Malay • Manx • Middle English • Munsee • Norman • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old French • Polish • Portuguese • Romanian • Spanish • Swedish • Turkish

Page categories

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English -al, from the Latin adjective suffix -ālis, or French, Middle French and Old French -el, -al. Distant doublet of -ar.

Alternative forms

-all (obsolete)
-ial
-ual
-arial

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /əl/, [l̩], [ɫ̩]
Audio (Southern England): (file)

Suffix

-al (adjective-forming suffix, comparative more -al, superlative most -al)
-al (noun-forming suffix, plural -als)

Of or pertaining to. Adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to produce an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also.
‎base + ‎-al → ‎basal

‎cranium + ‎-al → ‎cranial

‎spine + ‎-al → ‎spinal
Forming nouns, especially of verbal action.
‎propose + ‎-al → ‎proposal

‎deny + ‎-al → ‎denial

‎bestow + ‎-al → ‎bestowal

Usage notes

Most adjectives with this ending were not formed in English, but were taken from Latin (or French). In Latin, the ending -ālis (whence English -al) had the alternative form -āris (whence English -ar), which was often used when the base word contained l. The use of -al or -ar is inconsistent:

While words like formular, fibular, capsular, and bulbar follow the Latin norm, words like molal, phylal, salmonellal, and zooxanthellal do not.
Some words show variation between -al and -ar, such as lobar and lobal, acinar and acinal; variation also existed in Latin, as with Latin līneāris and hence English linear vs Latin līneālis and hence English lineal.

However, the ending -al is always used if the last l in the base word is followed by r, e.g. cultural, scleral, microfloral, pleural, loral, labral (compare glomerular, where the last l in glomerulus is not followed by r). The ending also appears in the extended forms -ial and -ual, as in manorial and eventual.

If the base word ends:

with us, um or a, it is dropped (e.g. viral, from virus; bronchial (New Latin bronchiālis), from bronchium; corneal from cornea);
with er / re (mostly derived from the Latin ending -rum), the e is dropped (e.g. membral, from member (Latin membrum); central, from center/centre (Latin centrum)); or
with a consonant + le (mostly derived from the Latin endings -ulus, -ulum, -ula), the latter usually changes to ul (e.g. muscular, from muscle (Latin mūsculus); vehicular, from vehicle (Latin vehiculum); arbuscular, from arbuscle (Latin arbuscula)).

As a nominalizer, some verbs have two corresponding nouns, one ending in -al and the other in -tion/-sion (more common suffix), with one or the other being more common, sometimes with different nuances. Notable examples: disposition/disposal (dispose), proposition/proposal (propose), submission/submittal (submit), transmission/transmittal (transmit). Some superficial pairs are actually of different origin, notably reversion/reversal (respectively related to revert and reverse).

Final silent ⟨e⟩ is dropped before this suffix, e.g. casal, from case.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor.

Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor.

Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl)

Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl)bor.

Latin alcoholder.

Proto-Indo-European *de

Proto-Indo-European *-h₁

Proto-Indo-European *déh₁

Proto-Italic *dē

Latin dē

Latin de-der.

Proto-Indo-European *wed-

Proto-Indo-European *-r̥

Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥

Proto-Hellenic *údōr

Ancient Greek ῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū̆́dōr)

Ancient Greek ῠ̔δρο- (hŭdro-)der.

German Aldehydbor.

English aldehydeclip.

English -al

Clipping of aldehyde.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /æl/

Suffix

-al

(organic chemistry) Forms the names of aldehydes.

Derived terms

Translations

aldehyde

Danish: -al
Dutch: -al (nl)
Galician: -al (gl)
Hungarian: -al (hu)
Polish: -al (pl) m
Swedish: -al (sv)

Anagrams

L. A., L.A., LA, La, La-, La., la, lä

Abenaki

Suffix

-al

A suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words.
pessimen (“currant”) → pessimenal (“currants”)

wôbigen (“it is white”) → wôbigenal (“they are white”)

Usage notes

-al is the most common suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words, including most body parts and some words ending in the vowel a.
See the usage notes at -ak.

Asturian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin -ālis.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈal/ [ˈal]
Rhymes: -al
Syllabification: -al

Suffix

-al (epicene, adjective-forming suffix, plural -ales)

-al (of or pertaining to)

Suffix

-al f (noun-forming suffix, plural -ales)

tree (forms names of trees)
‎peruyu (“wild pear”) + ‎-al → ‎peruyal (“pear tree”)

‎nuez (“walnut”) + ‎-al → ‎nozal (“walnut tree”)

‎ablana (“chestnut”) + ‎-al → ‎ablanal (“chestnut tree”)
(forms names of areas)
‎llamarga (“mud”) + ‎-al → ‎llamargal (“mire”)

‎maíz (“corn”) + ‎-al → ‎maizal (“corn field”)

‎pataca (“potato”) + ‎-al → ‎patacal (“potato field”)

Derived terms

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin -ālis.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈal]

Suffix

-al m or f (adjective-forming suffix, masculine and feminine plural -als)

in adjectives, indicating relation
‎estructura (“structure”) + ‎-al → ‎estructural (“structural”)

Derived terms

Catalan terms suffixed with -al

Danish

Etymology

From Latin -ālis.

Suffix

-al

-al, of or pertaining to; forming an adjective from a noun
Synonym: -el
(organic chemistry) -al

Declension

Inflection of *-al*
	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	-al	—	—²
indefinite neuter singular	-alt	—	—²
plural	-ale	—	—²
definite attributive¹	-ale	—	—

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

(Adjectives)

Declension of *-al*
common gender	singular		plural
common gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	-al	-alen	-aler	-alerne
genitive	-als	-alens	-alers	-alernes

(Common nouns)

Declension of *-al*
neuter gender	singular		plural
neuter gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	-al	-alet	-aler	-alerne
genitive	-als	-alets	-alers	-alernes

(Neuter nouns)

Derived terms

Danish terms suffixed with -al

References

“-al” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɑl/
Audio: (file)

Suffix

-al

(organic chemistry) -al

Synonyms

oxo-

Derived terms

Dutch terms suffixed with -al

methanal

Esperanto

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /al/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -al
Syllabification: -al

Suffix

-al

for [...] reason (ending for correlatives of reason)

Derived terms

alial (“for another reason”)
ĉial (“for every reason”)
ial (“for any/some reason”)
kial (“for what reason, why”)
nenial (“for no reason”)
tial (“for that reason, therefore”)

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French -al, from Old French -al, borrowed from Latin -ālis. Doublet of -el, which is inherited. The masculine plural in -x comes from the letter's usage as a ligature to abbreviate -us.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /al/
Audio (France (Lyon)): (file)

Suffix

-al (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -ale, masculine plural -aux, feminine plural -ales)

-al; appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form; often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also

Derived terms

French terms suffixed with -al

Descendants

Norwegian Bokmål: -al
→ Turkish: -sal (learned)

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese -al, from Latin -ālem.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈal/ [ˈɑɫ]
Rhymes: -al
Hyphenation: -al

Suffix

-al m or f (adjective-forming suffix, plural -ais)

-al (of or pertaining to)
‎industria (“factory; industry”) + ‎-al → ‎industrial (“industrial”)

Suffix

-al m or f by sense (noun-forming suffix, plural -ais)

appended to noun X, forms nouns meaning “a place where there is plenty of X” or "field where a plant is cultivated"
‎trigo (“wheat”) + ‎-al → ‎trigal (“wheatfield”)

‎pedra (“rock”) + ‎-al → ‎pedregal (“rocky field”)

Derived terms

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin -ālis.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [aːl]
Audio: (file)
Audio (Germany (Berlin)): (file)

Suffix

-al

pertaining to, using; adjectival suffix appended to nouns

Derived terms

Hungarian

Etymology

From -a- (linking vowel) +‎ -l (verb-forming suffix).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɒl]

Suffix

-al

(verb-forming suffix) Added to a noun to form a verb.
‎szárny (“a wing”) + ‎-al → ‎szárnyal (“to soar”)
(noun-forming suffix) Added to a verb to form a noun. No longer productive in this role.
‎von (“to pull”) + ‎-al → ‎vonal (“line”)
(organic chemistry) -al (forms the names of aldehydes)
etanal ― ethanal

Usage notes

(verb-forming suffix) Variants:
-l is added to words ending in a vowel. Final -a changes to -á-. Final -e changes to -é-. Final long vowels may shorten, e.g. ű → ü.

-ol is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant

-al is added to other back-vowel words ending in a consonant

-el is added to unrounded (and some rounded) front-vowel words ending in a consonant

-öl is added to most rounded front-vowel words ending in a consonant

-ál is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant

Note: Certain words take another, synonymous suffix, -z/-oz/-az/-ez/-öz/-áz or -zik/-ozik/-azik/-ezik/-özik.

(noun-forming suffix) Variants:
-al is added to back-vowel words

-el is added to front-vowel words

Derived terms

Hungarian verbs suffixed with -al

Hungarian nouns suffixed with -al

fonal

huzal

vonal

K'iche'

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /aːl/

Suffix

-al

Forms nouns from adjectives
‎tew (“cold”) + ‎-al → ‎tewal (“coldness”)

‎k’ak’ (“new”) + ‎-al → ‎k’ak’al (“youngster”)
Forms nouns from -aj verb suffix
‎mujaj (“to shade”) + ‎-al → ‎mujaj (“shadow”)

‎q’ebaj (“to go across”) + ‎-al → ‎q’ebal (“large earthen jar”)
Forms nouns from adverbs
‎nojim (“slowly”) + ‎-al → ‎nojimal (“slowness”)

‎nabe (“firstly”) + ‎-al → ‎nabeal (“firstborn”)
Forms nouns from nouns
‎k’o’x (“gourd cup”) + ‎-al → ‎k’o’xal (“shell of a dead animal”)

‎süb (“tamalito of corn”) + ‎-al → ‎sübal (“pot for making tamales”)

References

Christenson, Allen J. (2003), Kʼicheʼ-English dictionary and Guide to the pronunciation of the Kʼicheʼ-Maya alphabet‎^[3], Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, →OCLC

Latin

Alternative forms

-āle
-ar, -āre (when containing /l/)

Etymology

From the recurrent substantivation of apocopated adjectives in -āle, the nominative neuter singular ending of -ālis. Compare the nominal suffixes -ārium, -ium and -cum (among others), all derived from the neuter stem of adjective-forming suffixes.

Suffix

-al n (genitive -ālis); third declension

noun-forming suffix

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, pure i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	-al	-ālia
genitive	-ālis	-ālium
dative	-ālī	-ālibus
accusative	-al	-ālia
ablative	-ālī	-ālibus
vocative	-al	-ālia

Derived terms

Latin terms suffixed with -al

Lepontic

Suffix

-al

romanization of -𐌀𐌋

Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch -aal and English -al.

Pronunciation

(English-based) IPA^(key): [-əl]
(spelling-based, uncommon) IPA^(key): [-al]
Hyphenation: -al

Suffix

-al (Jawi spelling ـل)

-al
konvensional ― conventional

Derived terms

Malay terms suffixed with -al

Manx

Alternative forms

-ail

Etymology 1

Extracted from goaill.

Suffix

-al f

suffix used to form verbal nouns

Etymology 2

Extracted from goaill.

Suffix

-al

suffix used productively to form denominative verbs and their associated verbal nouns
‎yiarn (“iron”) + ‎-al → ‎yiarnal (“to iron”)

‎post (“post”) + ‎-al → ‎postal (“to post”)

Etymology 3

From Middle Irish -amail (compare Irish -úil, Scottish Gaelic -ail, -eil), from Old Irish -amail.

Suffix

-al

An adjectival suffix applied to various words, usually nouns, to make an adjective.

Derived terms

Manx terms suffixed with -al

Middle English

Alternative forms

-ale, -all, -alle, -eel, -el, -ele, -ell, -elle

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French -al, -el and its source Latin -ālis.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /-ˈal/, /-al/^[2] (from Old French -al and Latin -ālis)
IPA^(key): /-ˈɛːl/, /-ˈɛl/, /-ɛl/^[3] (from Old French -el)

Suffix

-al

(chiefly not productive) Forms adjectives from Latin and Romance vocabulary.

Derived terms

Descendants

English: -al
Scots: -al

References

^ “-al, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
^ Nöjd, Ruben (1919), “Stressed Vowels and Diphthongs”, in The vocalism of Romanic words in Chaucer‎^[1], Part II, Uppsala: Appelbergs Boktryckeri Aktiebolag, →OCLC, page 68.
^ Nöjd, Ruben (1919), “Stressed Vowels and Diphthongs”, in The vocalism of Romanic words in Chaucer‎^[2], Part II, Uppsala: Appelbergs Boktryckeri Aktiebolag, →OCLC, page 83.

Munsee

Suffix

-al

A suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words.
síipuw (“river”) → siipúwal (“rivers”)

máxkeew (“it is red”) → maxkéewal (“they are red”)

Usage notes

-al is the most common suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words, including most body parts and some words ending in the vowel a.

Norman

Etymology

From Old French -al, from Latin -ālis.

Suffix

-al

-al (of or pertaining to; adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form)

Derived terms

Norman terms suffixed with -al

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

-all (pre-1917)

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French -al, ultimately from Latin -ālis. Doublet of -ell.

Suffix

-al (neuter -alt, definite singular and plural -ale, comparative -alare, indefinite superlative -alast, definite superlative -alaste)

Forms adjectives from verbs meaning “doing” or “pertaining to doing” the verb.
‎våga (“dare”) + ‎-al → ‎vågal (“daring, risky”)

Derived terms

References

“-al” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
“*all” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

Old French

Alternative forms

-el

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin -ālis. Compare the inherited -el.

Suffix

-al

suffix used to form adjectives from nouns
mesnal (from mesnee) ― domestic; household

Descendants

Middle French: -al
- French: -al

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-aľь.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /al/
Rhymes: -al
Syllabification: -al

Suffix

-al m

forms masculine nouns, usually augmentative in nature
‎nos + ‎-al → ‎nochal

Declension

Animate/personal:

Declension of -al

	singular	plural
nominative	-al	-ale
genitive	-ala	-ali
dative	-alowi	-alom
accusative	-ala	-ali
instrumental	-alem	-alami
locative	-alu	-alach
vocative	-alu	-ale

Inanimate:

Declension of -al

	singular	plural
nominative	-al	-ale
genitive	-alu	-ali
dative	-alowi	-alom
accusative	-al	-ale
instrumental	-alem	-alami
locative	-alu	-alach
vocative	-alu	-ale

Surnames:

Declension of -al

	singular	plural
nominative	-al	-alowie
genitive	-ala	alów
dative	-alowi	-alom
accusative	-ala	alów
instrumental	-alem	-alami
locative	-alu	-alach
vocative	-alu	-alowie

Derived terms

Portuguese

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈaw/ [ˈaʊ̯]

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈal/ [ˈaɫ]
- (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈa.li/

Rhymes: (Brazil) -aw, (Portugal) -al
Hyphenation: -al

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālem

Old Galician-Portuguese -al

Portuguese -al

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese -al, from Latin -ālem.

Alternative forms

-ar, -eal, -ial, -ual

Suffix

-al m or f (adjective-forming suffix, plural -ais)

-al (of or pertaining to)
Synonyms: -ar, -ário, -eiro, -ico, -eal, -ial

‎abismo (“abyss”) + ‎-al → ‎abismal (“abyssal; abysmal”)

‎indústria (“factory; industry”) + ‎-al → ‎industrial (“industrial”)
(rarely productive) forms synonyms of adjectives containing the suffix -ico
‎angélico (“angelic”) + ‎-al → ‎angelical (“angelical”)

Suffix

-al m or f by sense (noun-forming suffix, plural -ais)

appended to noun X, forms nouns meaning “a collection X” or “a large quantity of X”
Synonym: -ário

‎ninho (“nest”) + ‎-al → ‎ninhal (“a bunch of nests”)

‎edito (“edict”) + ‎-al → ‎edital (“notice board”)
appended to noun X, forms nouns meaning “a place where there is plenty of X” or "field where a plant is cultivated"
Synonyms: -açal, -egal, -eiro

‎trigo (“wheat”) + ‎-al → ‎trigal (“wheatfield”)

‎sobreiro (“cork oak”) + ‎-al → ‎sobreiral (“an orchard of cork oaks”)

‎pedra (“rock”) + ‎-al → ‎pedregal (“a rocky field”)

‎colmeia (“beehive”) + ‎-al → ‎colmeal (“a place with many beehives”)

‎cátedra (“clergy”) + ‎-al → ‎catedral (“a large or important church building”)

Usage notes

Usage notes about the use of -al or -ar in English are fully applicable to their Portuguese cognates.

The following ending(s) change(s) in words appended with this suffix:

⟨-ição⟩ (being part of a hiatus in feminine nouns, including plurals) → ⟨-(i)cion-⟩
⟨-ção⟩, ⟨-são⟩ (in feminine nouns, including plurals) → ⟨-cion-⟩, ⟨-sion-⟩
⟨-ão⟩ (as a non-verb suffix, including plurals) → ⟨-on-⟩
⟨-ã(o)-⟩ (including plurals) → ⟨-(i)an-⟩, ⟨-am-⟩, or ⟨-(i)on-⟩, depending on the base word's etymology
⟨-m⟩ (including plurals) → ⟨-n-⟩
⟨-z⟩ (in some nouns from Latin, including plurals) → ⟨-c(i)-⟩
⟨-dade⟩ (as a noun suffix, including plurals) → ⟨-t-⟩

In addition, if the base word ends:

with -us, it may be dropped, e.g. viral (from vírus) and anal (from ânus);
with a stressed falling diphthong, the semivowel is dropped, e.g. real (from rei) and ideal (from ideia); or
with an unstressed o not following an i (mostly derived from Latin fourth declension), the form -ual may be used instead, e.g. textual (from texto) but predial (from prédio) instead of *prediual.

The ending may appear as -ial or -eal (e.g. racial, from raça, and floreal, from flor).

Derived terms

Portuguese terms suffixed with -al

Etymology 2

From the first syllable of álcool (“alcohol”) and aldeído (“aldehyde”).

Suffix

-al m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ais)

(organic chemistry) forms the names of alcohols
(organic chemistry) -al; forms the names of aldehydes

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin -alis. Compare French -al, Italian -ale.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /al/

Suffix

-al m or n (feminine singular -ală, masculine plural -ali, feminine/neuter plural -ale)

-al; of or pertaining to, forms adjectives from nouns.
‎săptămână (“week”) + ‎-al → ‎săptămânal (“weekly”)

Declension

Declension of *-al*
		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	-al		-ală	-ali	-ale
nominative- accusative	definite	-alul		-ala	-alii	-alele
genitive- dative	indefinite	-al		-ale	-ali	-ale
genitive- dative	definite	-alului		-alei	-alilor	-alelor

Derived terms

Romanian terms suffixed with -al

Related terms

-aie

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin -ālis.

Suffix

-al m or f (adjective-forming suffix, masculine and feminine plural -ales)

indicates relation
‎cultura (“culture”) + ‎-al → ‎cultural (“cultural”)

Suffix

-al m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ales)

indicates a place where something is grown, or where there is plenty of it
‎maíz (“corn”) + ‎-al → ‎maizal (“corn field”)

‎naranja (“orange”) + ‎-al → ‎naranjal (“orange grove”)

‎escoria (“scoria”) + ‎-al → ‎escorial (“bed of lava”)