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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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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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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, or to call someone, on a telephone, regardless of whether a physical dial is present.
    In an emergency dial 999.
  3. (intransitive) To use a dial or a telephone.
    Please be careful when dialling.
  4. (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.
  5. (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.

Noun

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

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

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

Verb

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dial

  1. (Föhr-Amrum) 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
Alternative forms
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Spanish

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Etymology 1

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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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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. 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
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