-al

See also: Appendix:Variations of "al"

English

Etymology 1

From the Latin adjective suffix -ālis, or French, Middle French and Old French -el, -al. Likely, the aforementioned Latin suffix is formed from Etruscan genitive suffix -l (as in ati mother / atial mother's) + adjectival suffix -is (as in fortis, debilis, etc.).

Alternative forms

• -all (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əl/

Suffix

-al

1. of or pertaining to; adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also.

   base, basal

   cranium, cranial

2. Forming nouns, especially of verbal action.

   e.g. rival, proposal, denial

Usage notes

If the root word contains l, the variant -ar is often used instead (e.g. solar, lunar, columnar, lumbar). Sometimes both forms are found: linear, lineal. One also sees -ial, as in manorial.

As 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 (revert/reverse, not both from reverse).

Derived terms

• (of or pertaining to): Category:English words suffixed with -al
• (forming nouns, especially of verbal action.): arousal, arrival, bestowal, betrothal, burial, denial, disposal, proposal, rival, reversal, removal, submittal, transmittal
• -ical

See also

• -ing
• -tion (-ion, -sion)
• -ure

Etymology 2

Extracted from the word "aldehyde"

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æl/

Suffix

-al

1. (organic chemistry) Forms the names of aldehydes.

Translations

aldehyde

• Danish: -al
• Dutch: -al (nl)

• Galician: -al (gl)

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Abenaki

Suffix

-al

1. 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.

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin -ālis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈ-al/

Suffix

-al (feminine -ala, masculine plural -als, feminine plural -ales)

1. In adjectives, indicating relation.

   estructura (“structure”) → estructural (“structural”).

Derived terms

► Catalan words suffixed with -al

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Danish

Suffix

-al

1. (organic chemistry) -al

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑl/

Suffix

-al

1. (organic chemistry) -al

Synonyms

• oxo-

Derived terms

► Dutch words suffixed with -al

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Esperanto

Suffix

-al

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

Derived terms

Terms derived from -al

• 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”)

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French

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French -al, a borrowing from Latin -ālis. Cognate to French -el, which is also from Latin -ālis but inherited (not borrowed).

Suffix

-al

1. -al (of or pertaining to; adjectival suffix 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 words suffixed with -al

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German

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin -ālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [aːl]

Suffix

-al

1. pertaining to, using; adjectival suffix appended to nouns

Derived terms

► German words suffixed with -al

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Hungarian

Etymology

-a- +‎ -l

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɒl]

Suffix

-al

1. (verb suffix) Added to a noun to form a verb.

   szárny (“a wing”) → szárnyal (“to soar”)

2. (noun suffix) Added to a verb to form a noun (no longer productive in this role).

   von (“to pull”) → vonal (“line”)

Usage notes

• (verb 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 front vowel words ending in a consonant

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

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

• (noun 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

See also

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

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Lepontic

Suffix

-al • (-al)

1. Romanization of -𐌀𐌋

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Norman

Etymology

From Old French -al, a Borrowing from Latin -ālis.

Suffix

-al

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

Derived terms

► Norman words suffixed with -al

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Novial

Suffix

-al

1. Short form of -ali.

Usage notes

• Remove the last vowel (except 'u') of the given noun before appending this suffix to it.

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Old French

Alternative forms

• -el

Etymology

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

Suffix

-al

1. suffix used to form adjectives from nouns

   mesnal ― domestic; household

   (from mesnee)

Descendants

• Middle French: -al
  • French: -al

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Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈaɫ/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈaw/

Etymology 1

From Old Portuguese -al, from Latin -ālis.

Suffix

-al (plural -ais)

1. appended to noun X, forms adjectives meaning “of or pertaining to X”

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

   indústria (“factory; industry”) + ‎-al → ‎industrial (“industrial”)

2. forms synonyms of adjectives containing the suffix -ico

   angélico (“angelic”) + ‎-al → ‎angelical (“angelical”)

3. appended to noun X, forms nouns meaning “a collection X” or “a large quantity of X”

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

   edito (“edict”) + ‎-al → ‎edital (“notice board”)

4. appended to noun X, forms nouns meaning “a place where there is plenty of X”

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

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

5. appended to the name of a plant, forms nouns meaning “a field where that plant is cultivated”

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

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

Synonyms

• (of or pertaining to): -ar, -ário, -eal, -eiro, -ial, -ico, -inal
• (collection): -ário
• (place with plenty of something): -açal, -egal, -eiro

Etymology 2

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

Suffix

-al m

1. (chemistry) forms the names of alcohols
2. (chemistry) forms the names of aldehydes

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin -ālis.

Suffix

-al (plural -ales)

1. In adjectives, indicating relation

   cultura (“culture”) + ‎-al → ‎cultural (“cultural”).

2. In nouns, indicating a place where something is grown

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

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

Synonyms

• (indicating a place): -ar

Derived terms

► Spanish words suffixed with -al

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Swedish

Suffix

-al

1. -al, of or pertaining to; forming an adjective from a noun

Derived terms

► Swedish words suffixed with -al

See also

• -ell
• -ig
• -isk
• -lig
• -sam