arrel

Catalan

Alternative forms

• rel
• raïl (obsolete or dialectal)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds

Proto-Italic *wrādīks

Latin rādīx

Old Catalan raïu

Old Catalan raïl

Old Catalan rel

Catalan rel

Catalan arrel

From earlier rel through a rebracketing of la rel (“the root”) as l'arrel, from Old Catalan rel, monophthongized from raïl, from earlier raïu (/w/ > /l/), from Latin rādīcem (accusative of rādīx). First attested in the 19th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əˈrɛl]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aˈrɛl]

• Audio (Central):

  (file)

Noun

arrel f (plural arrels)

1. root (of a plant)
2. (figurative) root, origin
3. (mathematics) root

   arrel quadrada ― square root

4. (linguistics) root

Derived terms

• arrel cúbica
• arrel de la llengua
• arrel quadrada
• arrelam
• arrelar
• arrelós
• béns arrels
• d'arrel
• fer arrels
• posar arrels

Related terms

• arran

Further reading

• “arrel”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “arrel”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “arrel” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.