cerval

Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin cervārius (“pertaining to a stag”), from cervus (“deer, stag”). Doublet of serval.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /seʁˈvaw/ [seɦˈvaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /seʁˈvaw/ [seɦˈvaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /seɾˈvaw/ [seɾˈvaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /seʁˈvaw/ [seʁˈvaʊ̯]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /seɻˈvaw/ [seɻˈvaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾˈval/ [sɨɾˈvaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾˈval/ [sɨɾˈvaɫ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾˈbal/ [sɨɾˈβaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾˈva.li/

• Homophone: serval
• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: cer‧val

Adjective

cerval m or f (plural cervais)

1. cervine
2. (figurative) ferocious

Derived terms

• gato-cerval
• lobo-cerval

Descendants

• French: serval
  • → English: serval
  • → German: Serval
  • → Portuguese: serval
  • Translingual: Felis serval

Further reading

• “cerval”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “cerval”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θeɾˈbal/ [θeɾˈβ̞al] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /seɾˈbal/ [seɾˈβ̞al] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: cer‧val

Adjective

cerval m or f (masculine and feminine plural cervales)

1. deerlike; deer; cervine
2. tremendous (fear)

Derived terms

• cervalmente

Further reading

• “cerval”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025