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dial

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Dial and dial.

English

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Dial (sense 1)

Etymology

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Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dyew-
Proto-Indo-European *-s
Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws
Proto-Italic *djous
Latin diēs
Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-
Proto-Indo-European *-is
Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?
Proto-Italic *-ālis
Latin -ālis
Latin diālis
Middle French dyalbor.
Middle English diall
English dial

    The original meaning was 'sundial' and/or 'clock dial'; from Middle English diall, from Middle French dyal, from Latin diālis (“daily, concerning the day”), because of its use in telling the time of day, from Latin diēs (“day”). Compare Spanish dial and día (“day”).

    Pronunciation

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    • (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈdaɪ.əl/, [ˈdaɪ.əɫ]
    • Audio (Australia):(file)
    • Rhymes: -aɪəl
    • Hyphenation: di‧al

    Noun

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    dial (plural dials)

    Dial (sense 4)
    1. A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as speed).
      Holonyms: (often holonymous) instrument, gauge
      The dial on the dashboard showed the car was nearly out of gas.
      1. Such a field as part of a clock face; (metonymic) the entire clock face.
        Comeronyms: hour hand, little hand; minute hand, big hand; second hand
    2. A sundial.
    3. A panel on a radio etc showing wavelengths or channels; a knob that is turned to change the wavelength etc.
      Turn the dial to Radio 4: my favourite show is on!
    4. A disk with finger holes on a telephone; used to select the number to be called.
      His hands were too fat to operate the dial on the telephone.
    5. (UK, Australia, slang) A person's face. [from 19th c.]
      • 1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, page 90:
        “Well, all I can say is that if yer don't take yer dial outer the road I'll bloomin' well take an' bounce a gibber off yer crust.”
      • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter IX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
        At the sound of the old familiar voice he spun around with something of the agility of a cat on hot bricks, and I saw that his dial, usually cheerful, was contorted with anguish, as if he had swallowed a bad oyster.
      • 2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 137:
        Old Mona Lisa would have looked like a sour lemon beside Angel Day on the rare days she put a smile on her dial, laughing with her friends when some new man was in town.
    6. A miner's compass.

    Translations

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    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Verb

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    dial (third-person singular simple present dials, present participle (US) dialing or (UK) dialling, simple past and past participle (US) dialed or (UK) dialled)

    1. (transitive) To control or select something with a dial, or (figuratively) as if with a dial.
      The lead guitarist for the rock band Spinal Tap dialed his amplifier to 11.
      The president has recently dialled down the rhetoric.
    2. (transitive) To select a number on a telephone, regardless of a physical dial.
      In an emergency dial 999.
    3. (transitive) To call (a person or organization) using a telephone.
      • 2026 September 8, Nicholas Muhoro, “Isi Etute, 18, Was Charged With Murder After a Tinder Encounter Turned Deadly in 2021. He Was Found Not Guilty”, in Skip Boring‎[1], archived from the original on 8 September 2026:
        On entering the apartment, John discovered the body on the floor. He tried to nudge Jerry’s shoulder with his foot, but he was unresponsive and stiff. John immediately pulled his phone out and dialed emergency services.
    4. (intransitive) To use a dial or a telephone.
      Please be careful when dialling.
    5. (transitive) To initiate a connection to a remote computer service such as a database.
      The application failed when attempting to dial the Postgres server, because there were too many open connections.
    6. (intransitive, dated) To use a dial-up modem to connect a personal computer to the Internet.
      I always check my guestbook when I dial, just in case anyone saw my Web site.

    Usage notes

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    • The spellings dialing and dialed are more common in the US. Dialling and dialled are more common elsewhere.
    • Originally, telephones had rotary dials, a technology that had become obsolete by the 1980s and replaced with numeric keypads, and later with touchscreen controls. However, the term "dial" has persisted to refer to the act of placing a telephone call by manually inputting a telephone number.

    Translations

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    Derived terms

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    derived from noun or verb

    Anagrams

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    Cornish

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    Etymology

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    From Middle Cornish dyal, from Proto-Brythonic *diɣal, from Proto-Celtic *dīgalā. Cognate with Breton and Welsh dial, Irish díoghail, Manx jeeyl, and Scottish Gaelic dìoghail.

    Noun

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    dial m (uncountable)

    1. revenge, retribution
      Synonym: venjyans

    Derived terms

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    • diala (“avenge, get revenge”, verb)

    Verb

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    dial

    1. inflection of diala:
      1. third-person singular present indicative/future indicative
      2. second-person singular imperative

    Mutation

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    Mutation of dial
    radical soft aspirate hard mixed
    dial dhial unchanged tial tial

    Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
    All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

    North Frisian

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    Etymology 1

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    From Proto-Germanic *dailą.

    Alternative forms

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    Noun

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    dial n or m (plural dialen) (Föhr-Amrum)

    2. part, portion
      Synonym: part
    3. piece, item
    Usage notes
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    • Originally neuter in both senses. In sense 1 now predominantly masculine after German Teil.

    Etymology 2

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    From Proto-Germanic *dailijaną. Related with the noun above.

    Alternative forms

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    Verb

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    dial

    1. (Föhr-Amrum)
    2. to divide
    Conjugation
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    Conjugation of dial (Föhr-Amrum dialect)
    infinitive I dial
    infinitive II (tu) dialen
    past participle diald
    imperative singular dial
    imperative plural dial’m
      present past
    1st singular dial diald
    2nd singular dialst dialdst
    3rd singular dialt diald
    plural dial diald
      perfect pluperfect
    1st singular haa diald hed diald
    2nd singular heest diald hedst diald
    3rd singular hee diald hed diald
    plural haa diald hed diald
      future (skel) future (wel)
    1st singular skal dial wal dial
    2nd singular skääl dial wääl dial
    3rd singular skal dial wal dial
    plural skel dial wel dial

    Spanish

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    Etymology 1

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    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *dyew-
    Proto-Indo-European *-s
    Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws
    Proto-Italic *djous
    Latin diēs
    Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-
    Proto-Indo-European *-is
    Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?
    Proto-Italic *-ālis
    Latin -ālis
    Latin diālis
    Middle French dyalbor.
    Middle English diall
    English dialbor.
    Spanish dial

      Borrowed from English dial.

      Pronunciation

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      • IPA(key): /ˈdjal/ [ˈd̪jal]
        • Rhymes: -al
        • Syllabification: dial
      • IPA(key): /ˈdaial/ [ˈd̪ai̯.al]
      • IPA(key): /ˈdajal/ [ˈd̪a.jal]

      Noun

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      dial m (plural diales or dials)

      1. dial

      Etymology 2

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      Etymology tree
      Proto-Indo-European *dyew-
      Proto-Indo-European *-s
      Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws
      Proto-Italic *djous
      Latin diēs
      Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-
      Proto-Indo-European *-is
      Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?
      Proto-Italic *-ālis
      Latin -ālis
      Latin diālisbor.
      Spanish dial

        Borrowed from Latin diālis (“of a day”).

        Pronunciation

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        • IPA(key): /ˈdjal/ [ˈd̪jal]
        • Rhymes: -al
        • Syllabification: dial

        Adjective

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        dial m or f (masculine and feminine plural diales)

        1. belonging or relating to a day

        Further reading

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        Welsh

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        Etymology

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        From Middle Welsh dial, from Old Welsh digal, from Proto-Brythonic *diɣal, from Proto-Celtic *dī-galā. Cognate with Cornish dial, Breton dial and Old Irish dígal and its modern derivatives.

        Pronunciation

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        Noun

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        dial m (plural dialau or dialon)

        1. revenge, vengeance
          Synonym: dialedd

        Derived terms

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        • dialgar (“vengeful”, adjective)

        Verb

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        dial (first-person singular present dialaf)

        1. to avenge, to get one's own back
          Synonyms: talu'n ôl, talu'r pwyth yn ôl

        Usage notes

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        • This verb is followed by the preposition ar.

        Conjugation

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        Conjugation of dial (literary)
        singular plural impersonal
        first second third first second third
        present indicative/future dialaf dieli dial, diala dialwn dielwch, dialwch dialant dielir
        imperfect (indicative/subjunctive)/
        conditional         		dialwn dialit dialai dialem dialech dialent dielid
        preterite dielais dielaist dialodd dialasom dialasoch dialasant dialwyd
        pluperfect dialaswn dialasit dialasai dialasem dialasech dialasent dialasid, dialesid
        present subjunctive dialwyf dielych dialo dialom dialoch dialont dialer
        imperative — dial, diala dialed dialwn dielwch, dialwch dialent dialer
        verbal noun dial
        verbal adjectives dialedig
        dialadwy
        Conjugation of dial (colloquial)
        inflected
        colloquial forms         		singular plural
        first second third first second third
        future diala i,
        dialaf i         		diali di dialith o/e/hi,
        dialiff e/hi         		dialwn ni dialwch chi dialan nhw
        conditional dialwn i,
        dialswn i         		dialet ti,
        dialset ti         		dialai fo/fe/hi,
        dialsai fo/fe/hi         		dialen ni,
        dialsen ni         		dialech chi,
        dialsech chi         		dialen nhw,
        dialsen nhw
        preterite dialais i,
        diales i         		dialaist ti,
        dialest ti         		dialodd o/e/hi dialon ni dialoch chi dialon nhw
        imperative — diala — — dialwch —

        Note: All other forms are periphrastic, as usual in colloquial Welsh.

        Derived terms

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        Mutation

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        Mutated forms of dial
        radical soft nasal aspirate
        dial ddial nial unchanged

        Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
        All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

        Further reading

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        • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “dial”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
        Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=dial&oldid=92525512"