pluvial

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French pluvial, from Middle French pluvial, borrowed from Latin pluviālis (“pertaining to rain”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈplu.vi.əl/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpluː.vi.əl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

pluvial (comparative more pluvial, superlative most pluvial)

1. Of, pertaining to, or produced by rain.

   Synonyms: ombro-, pluvio-

2. (geology) Occurring through the action of rain.

Derived terms

• antipluvial
• Carnian pluvial episode
• interpluvial
• intrapluvial
• nonpluvial
• pluvial lake

Related terms

• pluvious

Translations

pertaining to rain

• Bulgarian: дъждовен (dăždoven)
• French: pluvial (fr) m
• Icelandic: regn- (is), rigningar- (is), úrkomu- (is)
• Ido: pluvala (io)
• Irish: báistiúil
• Italian: pluviale (it)
• Māori: pātaua
• Polish: deszczowy (pl), pluwialny
• Russian: плувиа́л (ru) m (pluviál)

Noun

pluvial (plural pluvials)

1. (geology) a rainy period

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French pluvial. In the sense of “rain, rainy” since the late 15th century. The liturgical use is older and stems from Old French pluvial (12th c.), a borrowing from Latin pluviālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ply.vjal/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Adjective

pluvial (feminine pluviale, masculine plural pluviaux, feminine plural pluviales)

1. pluvial, (relational) rain-

   Synonyms: ombrique, ombro-, pluvaire, pluvio-

   eaux pluviales (originating in, formed of, or coming from fallen rain) ― rainwater

   érosion pluviale (caused by rainfall) ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with pluvieux, which describes that which is characterised by high or significant rainfall, particularly of a climate, a period of time or a place.

Derived terms

• forêt pluviale
• lac pluvial

Related terms

• pluie

Noun

pluvial m (plural pluviaux)

1. (Roman Catholicism) cope

   Synonym: chape

Further reading

• “pluvial”, in Dictionnaire français en ligne Larousse
• Littré, Émile (1873–1878), “pluvial”, in Dictionnaire de la langue française, Paris: L. Hachette
• Jouy, Alain & De Foucault, Bruno, 2019. Dictionnaire illustré de botanique. Biotope Éditions, Mèze, →ISBN., p. 220.
• “pluvial” in Dico en ligne Le Robert.
• “pluvial”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /pluˈvial/ [pluˈfi.al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: plu‧vi‧al

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English pluvial, from French pluvial, from Old French pluvial, from Latin pluviālis (“pertaining to rain”).

Adjective

pluvial (comparative lebih pluvial, superlative paling pluvial)

1. pluvial: of, pertaining to, or produced by rain; occurring through the action of rain

Noun

pluvial (plural pluvial-pluvial)

1. pluvial: a rainy period

Etymology 2

pluvial

Borrowed from French pluvial (“cope; rainy”), from Latin pluviālis (literally “rainy”). Compare German Pluviale.

Noun

pluvial (plural pluvial-pluvial)

1. (Catholicism) cope: a long, loose cloak worn by a priest, deacon or bishop when presiding over a ceremony other than the Mass.

Further reading

• “pluvial”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pluviālis.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /plu.viˈaw/ [plu.viˈaʊ̯], /pluˈvjaw/ [pluˈvjaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pluˈvjal/ [pluˈvjaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pluˈvjal/ [pluˈvjaɫ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /pluˈbjal/ [pluˈβjaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /pluˈvja.li/

• Hyphenation: plu‧vi‧al

Adjective

pluvial m or f (plural pluviais)

1. (relational) rain; pluvial

   águas pluviais ― rainwater

Related terms

• chuva

Further reading

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

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French pluvial, from Latin pluvialis.

Adjective

pluvial m or n (feminine singular pluvială, masculine plural pluviali, feminine/neuter plural pluviale)

1. stormy

Declension

Declension of pluvial

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	pluvial		pluvială	pluviali	pluviale
	definite	pluvialul		pluviala	pluvialii	pluvialele
genitive- dative	indefinite	pluvial		pluviale	pluviali	pluviale
	definite	pluvialului		pluvialei	pluvialilor	pluvialelor

Spanish

Alternative forms

• lluvial (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pluviālis. See also lluvia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pluˈbjal/ [pluˈβ̞jal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: plu‧vial

Adjective

pluvial m or f (masculine and feminine plural pluviales)

1. (relational) rain; pluvial

   agua pluvial ― rainwater

Related terms

• lluvia

Further reading

• “pluvial”, 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