practical

English

Etymology

From practic +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹæktɪkəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: prac‧ti‧cal

Noun

practical (plural practicals)

1. (Britain) A part of an exam or series of exams in which the candidate has to demonstrate their practical ability

Adjective

practical (comparative more practical, superlative most practical)

1. Based on practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis

   Jack didn't get an engineering degree, but has practical knowledge of metalworking.

2. Being likely to be effective and applicable to a real situation; able to be put to use

   Jack's knowledge has the practical benefit of giving us useful prototype parts.

3. Of a person, having skills or knowledge that are practical

   All in all, Jack's a very practical chap

Antonyms

• (based on practice or action): theoretical
• (likely to be effective and applicable to a real situation): impractical
• (of a person): impractical

Derived terms

• practicality
• practically

Related terms

• practicable
• practice
• practise
• practitioner
• pragmatic

Translations

based on practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis

• Catalan: pràctic (ca)
• Czech: praktický
• Dutch: praktisch (nl)
• Esperanto: praktika
• Finnish: käytännön-
• French: pratique (fr)
• Galician: práctico m
• German: praktisch (de)
• Greek: πρακτικός (el) m (praktikós)
• Hebrew: מעשי‏‎
• Italian: pratico (it)

• Japanese: 実践的な (jissen-teki na)
• Persian: پراتیک‏‎ (fa) (prâtik)
• Polish: praktyczny (pl) m
• Portuguese: prático (pt)
• Romanian: practic (ro)
• Russian: практи́ческий (ru) (praktíčeskij)
• Spanish: práctico (es) m, práctica (es) f
• Swedish: praktisk (sv)
• Tagalog: panggamitin
• Volapük: plagik (vo)
• Yiddish: פּראַקטיש‏‎ (praktish)

being likely to be effective and applicable to a real situation

• Arabic: عَمَلِيّ‏‎ m (ʿamaliyy)
• Dutch: praktisch (nl)
• Finnish: käytännöllinen (fi), käytännönläheinen
• German: praktisch (de)
• Greek: πρακτικός (el) m (praktikós), χρήσιμος (el) m (chrísimos)
• Hebrew: ישים‏‎, בר-ישום‏‎
• Hungarian: praktikus (hu)

• Indonesian: praktis (id)
• Japanese: 実用的な (じつようてきな, jitsuyou-teki na)
• Polish: praktyczny (pl) m
• Russian: практи́ческий (ru) m (praktíčeskij)
• Swedish: praktisk (sv)
• Tagalog: maisasagawa

having skills or knowledge that are practical

• Czech: praktický m
• Dutch: praktisch (nl)
• Finnish: käytännöllinen (fi)
• German: praktisch (de)
• Greek: πρακτικός (el) m (praktikós)
• Japanese: 実務経験のある (jitsumu-keiken no aru), 経験豊かな (けいけんゆたかな, keiken yutaka na)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: praktisk

  Nynorsk: praktisk

• Russian: практи́чный (ru) (praktíčnyj)
• Swedish: praktisk (sv)
• Tagalog: maisasagawa

Further reading

• practical in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• practical in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911