oral

See also: Oral, orał, and орал

English

Etymology

PIE word
*h₁óh₃s

Early 17th century borrowing from Late Latin ōrālis, from ōs (“the mouth”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.ɹəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.ɹəl/
• (East Coast dialect) IPA^(key): /ˈɑ.ɹəl/
• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈoː.ɹəl/
• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ˈorəl/
• (without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: ōrʹəl, IPA^(key): /ˈo(ː)ɹəl/
• (horse–hoarse merger) Homophone: aural
• Rhymes: -ɔːɹəl, -ɒɹəl

Adjective

oral (not comparable)

1. (relational) Relating to the mouth.

   Synonym: (rare) mouthly

   oral hygiene

   oral sex

   1. (pharmacology) Done or taken by the mouth.
      • 2009 March 17, Donald G. Mcneil Jr., “After a Stroke, Freeing Muscles With Botox”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 30 June 2017:

        And most neurologists are in the habit of prescribing antispasticity drugs like tizanidine and baclofen, which are oral and inexpensive, but which cause drowsiness and weaken every muscle in the body, not just the target ones.

   2. (phonetics, of a speech sound) Pronounced by the voice resonating in the mouth, as the vowels in English.
   3. (psychoanalysis, in Freudian theory) Relating to or denoting a stage of infantile psychosexual development during which libidinal gratification is derived from intake (as of food), by sucking, and later by biting.
   4. Of, relating to, or characterized by personality traits of passive dependency and aggressiveness.
2. (relational) Spoken rather than written.

   Synonyms: spoken, verbal

   Antonym: written

   an oral presentation

   an oral French exam

   1. Relating to the transmission of information or literature by word of mouth.
   2. Using speech or the lips especially in teaching the deaf.
   3. (sociolinguistics, of a society) Not having reached the stage of literacy.

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with aural, which is a homophone in some dialects.

Derived terms

• aboral
• adoral
• circumoral
• endoral
• extraoral
• fecal-oral
• hyperoral
• infraoral
• intraoral
• juxtaoral
• naso-oral, nasoral
• nonoral
• oral allergy syndrome
• oral argument
• oral availability
• oral candidiasis
• oralcare
• oral cavity
• oral exam
• oral examination
• oral glucose
• oral gratification
• oral history
• oral hygiene
• oralism
• oralist
• oralistic
• orality
• oralize, oralise
• oral law
• oral lore
• orally
• oralmost
• oral mucositis
• oral myology
• oralnasal
• oralness
• oral sex
• oral stage
• oral surgeon
• oral surgery
• oral test
• oral tradition
• oral vowel
• paroral
• perioral
• peroral
• pharyngo-oral
• postoral, post-oral
• preoral, pre-oral
• suboral
• supraoral
• transoral

Related terms

• oracy
• orature

Translations

relating to the mouth

• Afrikaans: oraal
• Albanian: gojor (sq), oral
• Arabic: فَمَوِيّ (famawiyy)
• Armenian: բերանի (berani), բերանային (hy) (beranayin)
• Belarusian: ро́тавы (rótavy), ара́льны (arálʹny)
• Bulgarian: у́стен (bg) (ústen), на уста́та (na ustáta)
• Catalan: oral (ca), bucal (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 口的 (zh) (kǒu de), 口腔的 (zh) (kǒuqiāng de)

• Czech: ústní (cs), orální (cs)
• Dutch: mondelijk, oraal (nl)
• Esperanto: buŝa
• Finnish: suu- (fi), suun (fi), oraalinen
• French: oral, buccal (fr)
• Galician: oral (gl) m or f
• Georgian: ორალური (oraluri)
• German: oral (de)
• Greek: στοματικός (el) (stomatikós)
• Hungarian: orális (hu) (primarily used in the sexual sense), száj- (hu) (as in szájrák, szájüreg etc.)
• Indonesian: lisan (id)
• Interlingua: oral
• Italian: orale (it)
• Japanese: 口頭の (ja) (こうとうの, kōtō no)
• Korean: 구두의 (ko) (gudu-ui), 입의 (ko) (ib-ui)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: دەمی (demî)

  Northern Kurdish: devkî (ku)

• Lithuanian: oralinis
• Marathi: मौखिक (mr) (maukhik)
• Navajo: hazééʼdę́ę́ʼ
• Persian: دَهانی (fa) (dahâni)
• Polish: ustny (pl) m
• Portuguese: oral (pt)
• Romanian: oral (ro)
• Russian: ротово́й (ru) (rotovój), ора́льный (ru) (orálʹnyj)
• Samogitian: oralėnės
• Slovak: ústný, orálny (sk)
• Spanish: oral (es), bucal (es), bocal
• Swedish: muntlig (sv)
• Tagalog: bunganga
• Ukrainian: ротови́й (rotovýj), ора́льний (orálʹnyj)

taken by the mouth

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 口服 (zh) (kǒufú)

spoken

• Afrikaans: oraal
• Albanian: gojor (sq), falur
• Arabic: شَفَهِيّ (šafahiyy), شَفَوِيّ (šafawiyy), مَنْطُوق (manṭūq)
• Armenian: բանավոր (hy) (banavor)
• Azerbaijani: şifahi (az)
• Belarusian: ву́сны (vúsny)
• Bulgarian: у́стен (bg) (ústen), слове́сен (bg) (slovésen)
• Catalan: oral (ca), verbal (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 口頭 / 口头 (zh) (kǒutóu), 口語的 / 口语的 (zh) (kǒuyǔ de), 口述的 (zh) (kǒushù de)

• Czech: ústní (cs)
• Danish: mundtlig (da)
• Dutch: oraal (nl), mondeling (nl)
• Esperanto: parola (eo)
• Finnish: suullinen (fi)
• French: oral (fr)
• Galician: oral (gl) m or f
• Georgian: ზეპირი (zeṗiri), სიტყვიერი (siṭq̇vieri)
• German: mündlich (de)
• Greek: προφορικός (el) (proforikós)
• Hungarian: szóbeli (hu)
• Icelandic: munnlegur (is)
• Italian: orale (it)
• Korean: 구전(口傳) (ko) (gujeon), 구술(口述) (ko) (gusul)
• Macedonian: устен (usten)
• Marathi: तोंडी (toṇḍī)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: muntlig (no)

  Nynorsk: munnleg

• Persian: شَفاهی (fa) (šafâhi)
• Polish: ustny (pl)
• Portuguese: oral (pt)
• Romanian: oral (ro)
• Russian: у́стный (ru) (ústnyj)
• Sanskrit: वाचिक (sa) (vācika)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: усни

  Roman: usni (sh)

• Slovak: ústny (sk)
• Slovene: usten (sl)
• Spanish: oral (es)
• Swedish: muntlig (sv)
• Tajik: шифоҳӣ (šifohi)
• Turkish: sözlü (tr)
• Ukrainian: у́сний (úsnyj)

Noun

oral (countable and uncountable, plural orals)

1. (countable) A spoken test or examination, particularly in a language class.

   We've got our Spanish oral tomorrow.

2. (countable, usually in the plural) A physical examination of the mouth.
3. (uncountable, informal) Ellipsis of oral sex.

   I gave my boyfriend oral for the first time on his birthday.

4. (bodybuilding, countable) Ellipsis of oral steroid.

References

• “oral”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “oral”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Further reading

• “oral”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “oral”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• -arol, Arlo, LoRa, Loar, Lora, Orla

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch overal, from Middle Dutch overal, from Old Dutch overal.

Adverb

oral

1. everywhere

Alternative forms

• orals
• oralste, oralster (nonstandard)

Asturian

Adjective

oral (epicene, plural orales)

1. oral

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [uˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [oˈɾal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

oral m or f (masculine and feminine plural orals)

1. oral

Derived terms

• oralitat
• oralment

Further reading

• “oral”, 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
• “oral”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “oral” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “oral” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈoral]

Participle

oral

1. masculine singular past active participle of orat

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ōrālis, from ōs (“mouth”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.ʁal/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

• Homophones: orale, orales

Adjective

oral (feminine orale, masculine plural oraux, feminine plural orales)

1. oral

Derived terms

• sexe oral
• stade oral

Noun

oral m (plural oraux)

1. an oral exam, a viva, a viva voce

Further reading

• “oral”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Etymology

From Latin os, oris (“mouth”) + -al.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

oral (strong nominative masculine singular oraler, not comparable)

1. (relational) mouth; oral

Declension

Positive forms of oral (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist oral	sie ist oral	es ist oral	sie sind oral
strong declension (without article)	nominative	oraler	orale	orales	orale
	genitive	oralen	oraler	oralen	oraler
	dative	oralem	oraler	oralem	oralen
	accusative	oralen	orale	orales	orale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der orale	die orale	das orale	die oralen
	genitive	des oralen	der oralen	des oralen	der oralen
	dative	dem oralen	der oralen	dem oralen	den oralen
	accusative	den oralen	die orale	das orale	die oralen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein oraler	eine orale	ein orales	(keine) oralen
	genitive	eines oralen	einer oralen	eines oralen	(keiner) oralen
	dative	einem oralen	einer oralen	einem oralen	(keinen) oralen
	accusative	einen oralen	eine orale	ein orales	(keine) oralen

Further reading

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

Indonesian

Etymology

Ultimately derived from Late Latin ōrālis, perhaps through Dutch oraal.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈoral/ [ˈo.ral]
• Rhymes: -oral
• Syllabification: o‧ral

Adjective

oral (generally not comparable)

1. oral:
   1. relating to the mouth
   2. spoken rather than written

Interlingua

Adjective

oral (not comparable)

1. oral (pertaining to the mouth)

Polish

Etymology

Back-formation from oralny.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.ral/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔral
• Syllabification: o‧ral

Noun

oral m inan

1. (colloquial, vulgar) oral (oral sex)

   Coordinate term: anal

Declension

Declension of oral

	singular
nominative	oral
genitive	orala/oralu
dative	oralowi
accusative	oral
instrumental	oralem
locative	oralu
vocative	oralu

Further reading

• oral in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ōrālis.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /oˈɾaw/ [oˈɾaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔˈɾal/ [ɔˈɾaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔˈɾal/ [ɔˈɾaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔˈɾa.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: o‧ral

Adjective

oral m or f (plural orais)

1. oral

Derived terms

• oralidade
• oralmente

Noun

oral f (plural orais)

1. an oral exam

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French oral.

Adjective

oral m or n (feminine singular orală, masculine plural orali, feminine/neuter plural orale)

1. oral

Declension

Declension of oral

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	oral		orală		orali	orale
	definite	oralul		orala		oralii	oralele
genitive- dative	indefinite	oral		orale		orali	orale
	definite	oralului		oralei		oralilor	oralelor

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

oral m anim (Cyrillic spelling орал)

1. obsolete spelling of orao

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ōrālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oˈɾal/ [oˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: o‧ral

Adjective

oral m or f (masculine and feminine plural orales)

1. oral

Derived terms

• juicio oral
• oralmente
• por vía oral
• sexo oral

Further reading

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

Swedish

Adjective

oral (not comparable)

1. oral (related to the mouth)

Declension

Inflection of oral

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	oral	—	—
neuter singular	oralt	—	—
plural	orala	—	—
masculine plural2	orale	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	orale	—	—
all	orala	—	—

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.

Derived terms

• oralsex (“oral sex”)

References

• oral in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• oral in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• oral in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)