neutral

See also: neutrál

English

Etymology

From Middle French neutral (compare modern French neutre), from Latin neutrālis. By surface analysis, neuter +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnjuːtɹəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈn(j)uːtɹəl/, [ˈnuːt͡ʃɹəl]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

neutral (comparative more neutral, superlative most neutral)

1. (politics) Not taking sides in a conflict such as war; nonaligned.
2. Favoring neither the supporting nor opposing viewpoint of a topic of debate; unbiased.

   Synonyms: disinterested, indifferent; see also Thesaurus:impartial

   I am neutral regarding the issue of gay marriage.

   • 1711, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times:

     The heart can not possibly remain neutral, but constantly takes part one way or the other.

3. Neither positive nor negative.
4. Neither beneficial nor harmful.

   Synonym: innocuous

   • c. 1600, Sir John Davies, The Original, Nature, and Immortality of the Soul:

     Some things good, and some things ill, do seem,
     And neutral some, in her fantastic eye.

   • 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

     Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […] In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.

5. (biology) Having no sex; neuter.

   Synonym: sexless

6. Having no obvious colour; gray.

   Synonym: beige

8. (physics) Neither positive nor negative; possessing no charge or equivalent positive and negative charge such that there is no imbalance.

   Synonyms: uncharged, chargeless

10. (chemistry) Having a pH of or near 7, neither acidic nor alkaline.
11. (liquor, chemistry) Of an alcoholic drink, having been fermented and distilled but with no additives.
13. (roleplaying games) Having an alignment that is situated between two notable possibilities, such as between good and evil, or between chaotic and lawful.

    Coordinate terms: chaotic, lawful

Derived terms

• antineutral
• carbon-neutral, carbon neutral
• circumneutral
• electroneutral
• ethno-neutral
• gender neutral
• gender-neutral
• grain neutral spirit
• grape neutral spirit
• immunoneutral
• lost neutral
• metal-neutral
• metal neutral
• net-neutral
• neutral alcohol
• neutral area
• neutral citation
• neutral clef
• Neutral Confederacy
• neutral current
• neutral deduction
• neutral equilibrium
• neutral grain spirit
• neutral grape spirit
• neutral grip
• neutral grip bar
• neutral ground
• neutralino
• neutral insulin
• neutralism
• neutralist
• neutralistic
• neutrality
• neutrally
• neutral money
• Neutral Nation
• neutralness
• neutralophile
• neutralophilic
• neutral Paralympic athlete
• neutral Paralympic athletes
• neutral section
• neutral spirit
• neutral third
• neutral tone
• neutral vowel
• neutral zone
• neutral-zone infraction
• neutron
• nonneutral
• pay-neutral
• photoneutral
• quasineutral
• subneutral
• superneutral
• thermoneutral
• true neutral
• unneutral
• value-neutral

Translations

not taking sides in a conflict

• Albanian: neutral (sq)
• Arabic: مُحَايِد (ar) (muḥāyid)
• Armenian: չեզոք (hy) (čʻezokʻ)
• Azerbaijani: bitərəf
• Bashkir: битараф (bitaraf)
• Basque: neutral
• Belarusian: нейтра́льны (njejtrálʹny), нэўтра́льны (neŭtrálʹny)
• Bulgarian: неутра́лен (bg) (neutrálen)
• Catalan: neutral (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 中立 (zh) (zhōnglì)

• Cornish: heptu, hebtu
• Crimean Tatar: bitaraf
• Czech: neutrální, nestranný (cs)
• Danish: neutral (da)
• Dutch: neutraal (nl)
• Esperanto: neŭtrala (eo)
• Estonian: neutraalne, erapooletu
• Finnish: puolueeton (fi); liittoutumaton (fi) (nonaligned)
• French: neutre (fr)
• Georgian: ნეიტრალური (neiṭraluri), მიუმხრობელი (miumxrobeli)
• German: neutral (de)
• Greek: ουδέτερος (el) m (oudéteros)
• Hebrew: נטרלי (netrali)
• Hindi: तटस्थ (hi) (taṭasth)
• Hungarian: semleges (hu), kívülálló (hu), el nem kötelezett
• Indonesian: netral (id)
• Interlingua: neutral, neutre
• Italian: neutrale (it)
• Japanese: 中立の (ja) (ちゅうりつの, chūritsu no)
• Kazakh: бейтарап (beitarap)
• Khiamniungan Naga: vèmvēm
• Korean: 중립의 (ko) (jungnib-ui)
• Kyrgyz: бейтарап (ky) (beytarap)
• Latvian: neitrāls
• Lithuanian: neutralus (lt)
• Macedonian: неутра́лен (neutrálen)
• Malay: neutral
• Maori: kūpapa, arero taiaha, tōkeke
• Nepali: तटस्थ (taṭastha)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nøytral (no)

  Nynorsk: nøytral

• Ottoman Turkish: بیطرف (bîtaraf)
• Persian: خُنثیٰ (fa) (xonsâ), بی‌طرف (fa) (bi-taraf)
• Polish: neutralny (pl), bezstronny (pl)
• Portuguese: neutro (pt)
• Romanian: neutru (ro), imparțial (ro), neutral (ro)
• Russian: нейтра́льный (ru) (nejtrálʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: не̏утра̄лан

  Roman: nȅutrālan (sh)

• Slovak: neutrálny
• Slovene: nevtralen
• Spanish: neutral (es)
• Swedish: neutral (sv)
• Tajik: бетараф (tg) (betaraf)
• Tatar: нейтраль (neytral’), битараф (bitaraf)
• Thai: เป็นกลาง (th) (bpen-glaang)
• Turkish: nötr (tr), yansız (tr), bitaraf (tr)
• Turkmen: bitarap (tk)
• Ukrainian: нейтра́льний (nejtrálʹnyj)
• Uyghur: بىتەرەپ (biterep)
• Uzbek: betaraf (uz)
• Vietnamese: trung lập (vi)

favouring neither the supporting nor opposing viewpoint of a topic of debate

• Bulgarian: неутра́лен (bg) (neutrálen)
• Finnish: puolueeton (fi)
• Hindi: तटस्थ (hi) (taṭasth)
• Hungarian: semleges (hu), pártatlan (hu)
• Japanese: 中立の (ja) (ちゅうりつの, chūritsu no)
• Maori: ngākau tapatahi, arero taiaha, tōkeke
• Portuguese: neutro (pt)

grammar: neither positive nor negative

• Czech: neutrální
• Finnish: neutraali (fi)
• Hungarian: semleges (hu)
• Japanese: 中性の (ja) (ちゅうせいの, chūsei no)
• Portuguese: neutro (pt)

neither beneficial nor harmful

• Albanian: asnjanës (sq)
• Catalan: neutre (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: neutraali (fi), yhdentekevä (fi)
• French: neutre (fr)
• German: neutral (de)
• Greek: ουδέτερος (el) m (oudéteros)
• Hungarian: semleges (hu), közömbös (hu)
• Japanese: 毒にも薬にもならない (doku ni mo kusuri ni mo naranai)
• Latvian: neitrāls
• Portuguese: neutro (pt)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can

biology: having no sex

• Albanian: asnjanës (sq)
• Armenian: չեզոք (hy) (čʻezokʻ)
• Belarusian: бяспло́цевы (bjasplócjevy), бяспо́лы (bjaspóly)
• Bulgarian: безпо́лов (bg) (bezpólov)
• Catalan: neutre (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無性 / 无性 (zh) (wúxìng)

• Czech: bezpohlavní
• Dutch: geslachtloos (nl)
• Finnish: sukupuoleton
• French: neutre (fr), asexué (fr)
• German: geschlechtslos (de)
• Greek: άφυλος (el) m (áfylos)
• Hungarian: nem nélküli
• Japanese: 無性の (ja) (むせいの, musei no)
• Korean: 중성의 (ko) (jungseong-ui)
• Macedonian: бесполен (bespolen), среден (sreden)
• Polish: bezpłciowy (pl)
• Russian: беспо́лый (ru) (bespólyj)
• Slovak: bezpohlavný
• Ukrainian: безстате́вий (uk) (bezstatévyj)

having no obvious colour

• Albanian: neutral (sq)
• Catalan: neutre (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: neutraali (fi), neutraalin värinen
• German: neutral (de)
• Greek: ουδέτερος (el) m (oudéteros)
• Hungarian: semleges (hu)
• Italian: neutro (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nøytral (no)

  Nynorsk: nøytral

• Romanian: șters (ro), cenușiu (ro)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can

physics: possessing no charge

• Albanian: asnjanës (sq)
• Armenian: չեզոք (hy) (čʻezokʻ)
• Bulgarian: неутрален (bg) (neutralen)
• Catalan: neutre (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不帶電 / 不带电 (bùdàidiàn)

• Finnish: sähkövaraukseton, neutraali (fi)
• French: neutre (fr)
• German: neutral (de)
• Greek: ουδέτερος (el) m (oudéteros)
• Hindi: उदासीन (hi) (udāsīn)
• Hungarian: semleges (hu), nulla (hu), null- (hu)
• Italian: neutro (it)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: nêtar (ku)

• Latvian: neitrāls
• Macedonian: неутра́лен (neutrálen)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nøytral (no)

  Nynorsk: nøytral

• Portuguese: neutro (pt)
• Romanian: neutru (ro) (electric)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can

chemistry: neither acidic nor alkaline

• Albanian: neutral (sq)
• Catalan: neutre (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 中性 (zh) (zhōngxìng)

• Dutch: neutraal (nl), onzijdig (nl)
• Finnish: neutraali (fi)
• French: neutre (fr)
• German: neutral (de)
• Greek: ουδέτερος (el) m (oudéteros)
• Hindi: उदासीन (hi) (udāsīn)
• Hungarian: semleges (hu)
• Italian: neutro (it), neutrale (it)
• Japanese: 中性の (ja) (chūsei no)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: nêtar (ku)

• Latvian: neitrāls
• Maori: ngū, ruhi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nøytral (no)

  Nynorsk: nøytral

• Portuguese: neutro (pt)
• Romanian: neutru (ro) m or n
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: neutro (es)

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

• Welsh: ^{(please verify)} canolog (cy)

Noun

neutral (plural neutrals)

1. A nonaligned state, or a member of such a state.
2. A person who takes no side in a dispute.
   • 1931, “Which Side Are You On?”, performed by Florence Patton Reece:

     They say in Harlan County
     There are no neutrals there
     You'll either be a union man
     Or a thug for J.H. Blair.

3. An individual or entity serving as an arbitrator or adjudicator.
4. A neutral hue.
5. The position of a set of gears in which power cannot be transmitted to the drive mechanism.
   • 1961, Robert S. Close, With Hooves of Brass, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 124:

     He shoved the tractor into neutral, and, leaving the engine running, jumped down[.]

6. An electrical terminal or conductor which has zero or close to zero voltage with respect to the ground.

   Coordinate terms: hot, ground, earth

Derived terms

• borrowed neutral

Translations

nonaligned state

• Bulgarian: неутрална държава f (neutralna dǎržava)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 中立國 / 中立国 (zh) (zhōnglìguó)

• Finnish: puolueeton valtio
• German: neutraler Staat m
• Greek: ουδέτερη χώρα f (oudéteri chóra)
• Hindi: तटस्थ (hi) (taṭasth)
• Hungarian: semleges/el nem kötelezett állam/ország
• Portuguese: neutro (pt) m
• Romanian: stat neutru, stat nealiniat
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: neutral (es) m

person who takes no side in a dispute

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: puolueeton (fi)
• German: Neutraler m
• Greek: ουδέτερος (el) m (oudéteros)
• Hindi: तटस्थ (hi) (taṭasth)
• Hungarian: kívülálló (hu)
• Macedonian: неутра́лец (neutrálec)
• Portuguese: neutro (pt) m
• Romanian: persoană neutră
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: neutral (es) m

neutral hue

• Finnish: neutraali sävy
• Greek: ουδέτερος (el) m (oudéteros)
• Hungarian: semleges szín/árnyalat/színárnyalat
• Irish: neodrach m

position of gears

• Arabic: نُقْطَة الْعَطَالَة f (nuqṭat al-ʕaṭāla)
• Bulgarian: неутрално положение (neutralno položenie)
• Catalan: punt mort m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 空擋 / 空挡 (zh) (kōngdǎng)

• Finnish: vapaa (fi)
• French: point mort (fr) m
• German: Leerlaufstellung f, Ruhelage f
• Greek: νεκρό (el) n (nekró)
• Hungarian: üresjárat (hu), üres (hu)
• Italian: folle (it)
• Macedonian: лер m (ler)
• Portuguese: ponto morto m
• Russian: нейтра́льное (ru) n (nejtrálʹnoje)
• Spanish: punto muerto (es) m, punto neutral m

electrical terminal

• Finnish: nolla (fi), nollajohdin
• Hungarian: nulla (hu)
• Italian: neutro (it) m
• Romanian: conductor neutru, bornă neutră

See also

• (transmission gears): freewheel, overdrive

Anagrams

• Renault, run late, unalert, unalter

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin neutrālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [nəwˈtɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [newˈtɾal]

Adjective

neutral m or f (masculine and feminine plural neutrals)

1. neutral

Derived terms

• neutralisme
• neutralista
• neutralitat
• neutralitzar

Related terms

• neutre

Further reading

• “neutral”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April

Danish

Etymology

From Latin neutrālis.

Adjective

neutral (neuter neutralt, plural and definite singular attributive neutrale)

1. neutral

   Synonyms: upartisk, uvildig

2. uncontroversial

   Synonym: ukontroversiel

3. Neither positive nor negative
   1. (chemistry) neither acidic nor alkaline
   2. (physics) uncharged, chargeless

Inflection

Inflection of neutral

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	neutral	mere neutral	mest neutral2
indefinite neuter singular	neutralt	mere neutral	mest neutral2
plural	neutrale	mere neutral	mest neutral2
definite attributive1	neutrale	mere neutral	mest neutrale

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Derived terms

• kønsneutral
• miljøneutral
• neutralisere
• neutralisme
• neutralitet
• omkostningsneutral
• prisneutral
• udgiftsneutral
• værdineutral

References

• “neutral” in Den Danske Ordbog

German

Alternative forms

• n. (abbreviation)

Etymology

16th century, borrowed from Latin neutralis, at first in political parlance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɔʏ̯ˈtʁaːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

neutral (strong nominative masculine singular neutraler, comparative neutraler, superlative am neutralsten)

1. neutral
   1. (politics) not taking sides, not joining alliances

      Synonyms: unbeteiligt, unparteiisch, bündnisfrei

   2. impartial, unbiased

      Synonyms: unparteiisch, unvoreingenommen, unbefangen, wertfrei

   3. having no pronounced quality, neither good nor bad etc.

      Synonym: indifferent

   4. (physics) electrically uncharged

      Synonym: ungeladen

   5. (chemistry) neither acidic nor alkaline
2. neuter
   1. (grammar) of neuter gender

      Synonym: sächlich

   2. (biology, rare) sexless

      Synonym: geschlechtlos

Declension

Positive forms of neutral

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist neutral	sie ist neutral	es ist neutral	sie sind neutral
strong declension (without article)	nominative	neutraler	neutrale	neutrales	neutrale
	genitive	neutralen	neutraler	neutralen	neutraler
	dative	neutralem	neutraler	neutralem	neutralen
	accusative	neutralen	neutrale	neutrales	neutrale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der neutrale	die neutrale	das neutrale	die neutralen
	genitive	des neutralen	der neutralen	des neutralen	der neutralen
	dative	dem neutralen	der neutralen	dem neutralen	den neutralen
	accusative	den neutralen	die neutrale	das neutrale	die neutralen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein neutraler	eine neutrale	ein neutrales	(keine) neutralen
	genitive	eines neutralen	einer neutralen	eines neutralen	(keiner) neutralen
	dative	einem neutralen	einer neutralen	einem neutralen	(keinen) neutralen
	accusative	einen neutralen	eine neutrale	ein neutrales	(keine) neutralen

Comparative forms of neutral

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist neutraler	sie ist neutraler	es ist neutraler	sie sind neutraler
strong declension (without article)	nominative	neutralerer	neutralere	neutraleres	neutralere
	genitive	neutraleren	neutralerer	neutraleren	neutralerer
	dative	neutralerem	neutralerer	neutralerem	neutraleren
	accusative	neutraleren	neutralere	neutraleres	neutralere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der neutralere	die neutralere	das neutralere	die neutraleren
	genitive	des neutraleren	der neutraleren	des neutraleren	der neutraleren
	dative	dem neutraleren	der neutraleren	dem neutraleren	den neutraleren
	accusative	den neutraleren	die neutralere	das neutralere	die neutraleren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein neutralerer	eine neutralere	ein neutraleres	(keine) neutraleren
	genitive	eines neutraleren	einer neutraleren	eines neutraleren	(keiner) neutraleren
	dative	einem neutraleren	einer neutraleren	einem neutraleren	(keinen) neutraleren
	accusative	einen neutraleren	eine neutralere	ein neutraleres	(keine) neutraleren

Superlative forms of neutral

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am neutralsten	sie ist am neutralsten	es ist am neutralsten	sie sind am neutralsten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	neutralster	neutralste	neutralstes	neutralste
	genitive	neutralsten	neutralster	neutralsten	neutralster
	dative	neutralstem	neutralster	neutralstem	neutralsten
	accusative	neutralsten	neutralste	neutralstes	neutralste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der neutralste	die neutralste	das neutralste	die neutralsten
	genitive	des neutralsten	der neutralsten	des neutralsten	der neutralsten
	dative	dem neutralsten	der neutralsten	dem neutralsten	den neutralsten
	accusative	den neutralsten	die neutralste	das neutralste	die neutralsten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein neutralster	eine neutralste	ein neutralstes	(keine) neutralsten
	genitive	eines neutralsten	einer neutralsten	eines neutralsten	(keiner) neutralsten
	dative	einem neutralsten	einer neutralsten	einem neutralsten	(keinen) neutralsten
	accusative	einen neutralsten	eine neutralste	ein neutralstes	(keine) neutralsten

Derived terms

• neutralisieren
• Neutralität

Related terms

• Neutrum

Further reading

• “neutral” in Duden online
• “neutral” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin neutralis or Italian neutrale. By surface analysis, neutru +‎ -al.

Adjective

neutral m or n (feminine singular neutrală, masculine plural neutrali, feminine and neuter plural neutrale)

1. neutral

Declension

Declension of neutral

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	neutral		neutrală		neutrali	neutrale
	definite	neutralul		neutrala		neutralii	neutralele
genitive- dative	indefinite	neutral		neutrale		neutrali	neutrale
	definite	neutralului		neutralei		neutralilor	neutralelor

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin neutrālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /neuˈtɾal/ [neu̯ˈt̪ɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: neu‧tral

Adjective

neutral m or f (masculine and feminine plural neutrales)

1. (politics) neutral

Derived terms

• bote neutral
• neutralidad
• neutralizar
• neutralmente

Related terms

• neutro

Further reading

• “neutral”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /neːɵˈtrɑːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

neutral

1. neutral
2. (grammar) intransitive

Declension

Inflection of neutral

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	neutral	neutralare	neutralast
neuter singular	neutralt	neutralare	neutralast
plural	neutrala	neutralare	neutralast
masculine plural2	neutrale	neutralare	neutralast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	neutrale	neutralare	neutralaste
all	neutrala	neutralare	neutralaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Related terms

• neutralisera
• neutralitet