-al

From Middle English -al, from the Latin adjective suffix -ālis, or French, Middle French and Old French -el, -al. Distant doublet of -ar.

• -all (obsolete)
• -ial
• -ual
• -arial

• IPA^(key): /əl/, [l̩], [ɫ̩]

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

-al

2. Of or pertaining to. Adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to produce an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also.

   ‎base + ‎-al → ‎basal

   ‎cranium + ‎-al → ‎cranial

   ‎spine + ‎-al → ‎spinal

3. Forming nouns, especially of verbal action.

   ‎propose + ‎-al → ‎proposal

   ‎deny + ‎-al → ‎denial

   ‎bestow + ‎-al → ‎bestowal

Most adjectives with this ending were not formed in English, but were taken from Latin (or French). In Latin, the ending -ālis (whence English -al) had the alternative form -āris (whence English -ar), which was often used when the base word contained l. The use of -al or -ar is inconsistent:

• While words like formular, fibular, capsular, and bulbar follow the Latin norm, words like molal, phylal, salmonellal, and zooxanthellal do not.
• Some words show variation between -al and -ar, such as lobar and lobal, acinar and acinal; variation also existed in Latin, as with Latin līneāris and hence English linear vs Latin līneālis and hence English lineal.

However, the ending -al is always used if the last l in the base word is followed by r, e.g. cultural, scleral, microfloral, pleural, loral, labral (compare glomerular, where the last l in glomerulus is not followed by r). The ending also appears in the extended forms -ial and -ual, as in manorial and eventual.

If the base word ends:

• with us, um or a, it is dropped (e.g. viral, from virus; bronchial (New Latin bronchiālis), from bronchium; corneal from cornea);
• with er / re (mostly derived from the Latin ending -rum), the e is dropped (e.g. membral, from member (Latin membrum); central, from center/centre (Latin centrum)); or
• with a consonant + le (mostly derived from the Latin endings -ulus, -ulum, -ula), the latter usually changes to ul (e.g. muscular, from muscle (Latin mūsculus); vehicular, from vehicle (Latin vehiculum); arbuscular, from arbuscle (Latin arbuscula)).

As a nominalizer, some verbs have two corresponding nouns, one ending in -al and the other in -tion/-sion (more common suffix), with one or the other being more common, sometimes with different nuances. Notable examples: disposition/disposal (dispose), proposition/proposal (propose), submission/submittal (submit), transmission/transmittal (transmit). Some superficial pairs are actually of different origin, notably reversion/reversal (respectively related to revert and reverse).

Final silent ⟨e⟩ is dropped before this suffix, e.g. casal, from case.

• (adjectival):
  English terms suffixed with -al

  abdicational

  abdominal

  abductional

  aberrational

  abettal

  abiological

  ablational

  ablatival

  abnerval

  abolitional

  Aboriginal

  abortal

  abortional

  abrasional

  abscissional

  absolutival

  absorptional

  abstractional

  abuttal

  abysmal

  abyssal

  academical

  -acal

  acanthial

  acapnial

  acaricidal

  accelerational

  accelerometrical

  accessional

  accessorial

  accipitral

  acclimational

  acclimatisational

  acclimatizational

  accommodational

  accompanimental

  accreditational

  accretional

  accrual

  acculturational

  accumbal

  accumulational

  accusal

  accusatorial

  acidobacterial

  acidocalcisomal

  acinal

  acnodal

  aconital

  acontial

  acoustical

  acquisitional

  acquittal

  acral

  acrasial

  acrolectal

  acronycal

  acropetal

  acrosomal

  acrostichal

  acrotarsial

  actinal

  actinobacterial

  actinostomal

  actinozoal

  actional

  activational

  actual

  actualizational

  actuarial

  acupunctural

  Adamitical

  adaptational

  additional

  addressal

  adenoidal

  adenoviral

  adhesional

  adhocratical

  adjectional

  adjectival

  adjournal

  adjudicational

  adjustmental

  administrational

  admirational

  admonitional

  adoptional

  adorational

  adpositional

  adrenarcheal

  adsorptional

  adulticidal

  advectional

  adventitial

  adverbal

  adversarial

  advocational

  aedeagal

  aequoreal

  aerational

  aerenchymal

  aerial

  aesthetical

  aestivoautumnal

  æternal

  aeval

  affectational

  affectional

  affinal

  affirmational

  affixal

  affixational

  agglomerational

  aggradational

  aggregational

  aggresomal

  agitational

  agnominal

  agonal

  agricultural

  agrobacterial

  ahistorical

  albuminoidal

  algal

  algebraical

  algicidal

  alkaloidal

  alkanal

  alkynal

  alliterational

  allocational

  alloquial

  allosomal

  alphabetical

  alphaproteobacterial

  alternational

  altitudinal

  altosomal

  alumnal

  amaroidal

  Amazonal

  ambidextral

  amblygonal

  ambrosial

  amebal

  amebicidal

  amenorrhoeal

  amental

  amential

  aminal

  aminosteroidal

  ammoniacal

  ammunitional

  amnestical

  amnioserosal

  amoebal

  amoebicidal

  amœbicidal

  amphibicidal

  amphidal

  amphitropal

  amphoral

  amplificational

  amplitudinal

  amputational

  amygdaloidal

  anaemial

  anæmial

  anæmical

  anaerobicidal

  anaesthetical

  anæsthetical

  anagrammatical

  anagraphical

  anal

  analogal

  analogical

  anatomical

  ancestral

  anchoral

  anconal

  androgynal

  -aneal

  anecdotal

  anemial

  anemical

  aneurismal

  aneurysmal

  anginal

  angiospermal

  anguineal

  anilingual

  animational

  annexational

  anniversal

  annotational

  anodal

  anteal

  antebrachial
• (forming nouns, especially of verbal action): arousal, arrival, bestowal, betrothal, denial, disposal, proposal, rental, rival, revival, reversal, removal, subdual, submittal, transmittal, upheaval
• -ical

Back-formation from aldehyde.

• IPA^(key): /æl/

-al

1. (organic chemistry) Forms the names of aldehydes.

• L. A., L.A., LA, La, La-, La., la, lä

-al

1. A suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words.

   pessimen (“currant”) → pessimenal (“currants”)

   wôbigen (“it is white”) → wôbigenal (“they are white”)

• -al is the most common suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words, including most body parts and some words ending in the vowel a.
• See the usage notes at -ak.

Inherited from Latin -ālis.

• IPA^(key): /ˈal/ [ˈal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: -al

-al (epicene, adjective-forming suffix, plural -ales)

1. -al (of or pertaining to)

-al f (noun-forming suffix, plural -ales)

1. tree (forms names of trees)

   ‎peruyu (“wild pear”) + ‎-al → ‎peruyal (“pear tree”)

   ‎nuez (“walnut”) + ‎-al → ‎nozal (“walnut tree”)

   ‎ablana (“chestnut”) + ‎-al → ‎ablanal (“chestnut tree”)

2. (forms names of areas)

   ‎llamarga (“mud”) + ‎-al → ‎llamargal (“mire”)

   ‎maíz (“corn”) + ‎-al → ‎maizal (“corn field”)

   ‎pataca (“potato”) + ‎-al → ‎patacal (“potato field”)

Inherited from Latin -ālis.

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

-al m or f (adjective-forming suffix, masculine and feminine plural -als)

1. in adjectives, indicating relation

   ‎estructura (“structure”) + ‎-al → ‎estructural (“structural”)

From Latin -ālis.

-al

1. -al, of or pertaining to; forming an adjective from a noun

   Synonym: -el

2. (organic chemistry) -al

(Adjectives)

(Common nouns)

(Neuter nouns)

• -ig
• -isk
• -lig
• -som

• “-al” in Den Danske Ordbog

• IPA^(key): /ɑl/

• Audio:

  (file)

-al

1. (organic chemistry) -al

• oxo-

• IPA^(key): /-al/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: -al

-al

1. for [...] reason (ending for correlatives of reason)

Inherited from Middle French -al, from Old French -al, borrowed from Latin -ālis. Doublet of -el, which is inherited. The masculine plural in -x comes from the letter's usage as a ligature to abbreviate -us.

• IPA^(key): /al/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

-al (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -ale, masculine plural -aux, feminine plural -ales)

1. -al; appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form; often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also

• Norwegian Bokmål: -al
• → Turkish: -sal (learned)

Borrowed from Latin -ālis.

• IPA^(key): [aːl]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

-al

1. pertaining to, using; adjectival suffix appended to nouns

From -a- (linking vowel) +‎ -l (verb-forming suffix).

• IPA^(key): [ɒl]

-al

1. (verb-forming suffix) Added to a noun to form a verb.

   ‎szárny (“a wing”) + ‎-al → ‎szárnyal (“to soar”)

2. (noun-forming suffix) Added to a verb to form a noun. No longer productive in this role.

   ‎von (“to pull”) + ‎-al → ‎vonal (“line”)

3. (organic chemistry) -al (forms the names of aldehydes)

   etanal ― ethanal

• (verb-forming suffix) Variants:

  -l is added to words ending in a vowel. Final -a changes to -á-. Final -e changes to -é-. Final long vowels may shorten, e.g. ű → ü.

  -ol is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -al is added to other back-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -el is added to unrounded (and some rounded) front-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -öl is added to most rounded front-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -ál is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant

Note: Certain words take another, synonymous suffix, -z/-oz/-az/-ez/-öz/-áz or -zik/-ozik/-azik/-ezik/-özik.

• (noun-forming suffix) Variants:

  -al is added to back-vowel words

  -el is added to front-vowel words

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

• IPA^(key): /aːl/

-al

1. Forms nouns from adjectives

   ‎tew (“cold”) + ‎-al → ‎tewal (“coldness”)

   ‎k’ak’ (“new”) + ‎-al → ‎k’ak’al (“youngster”)

2. Forms nouns from -aj verb suffix

   ‎mujaj (“to shade”) + ‎-al → ‎mujaj (“shadow”)

   ‎q’ebaj (“to go across”) + ‎-al → ‎q’ebal (“large earthen jar”)

3. Forms nouns from adverbs

   ‎nojim (“slowly”) + ‎-al → ‎nojimal (“slowness”)

   ‎nabe (“firstly”) + ‎-al → ‎nabeal (“firstborn”)

4. Forms nouns from nouns

   ‎k’o’x (“gourd cup”) + ‎-al → ‎k’o’xal (“shell of a dead animal”)

   ‎süb (“tamalito of corn”) + ‎-al → ‎sübal (“pot for making tamales”)

• Christenson, Allen J. (2003), Kʼicheʼ-English dictionary and Guide to the pronunciation of the Kʼicheʼ-Maya alphabet‎^[3], Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, →OCLC

• -āle
• -ar, -āre (when containing /l/)

From the recurrent substantivation of apocopated adjectives in -āle, the nominative neuter singular ending of -ālis. Compare the nominal suffixes -ārium, -ium and -cum (among others), all derived from the neuter stem of adjective-forming suffixes.

-al n (genitive -ālis); third declension

1. noun-forming suffix

Third-declension noun (neuter, pure i-stem).

-al

1. romanization of -𐌀𐌋

Borrowed from Dutch -aal and English -al.

• (English-based) IPA^(key): [-əl]
• (spelling-based, uncommon) IPA^(key): [-al]
• Hyphenation: -al

-al (Jawi spelling ـل)

1. -al

   konvensional ― conventional

• -ail

Extracted from goaill.

-al f

1. suffix used to form verbal nouns

Extracted from goaill.

-al

1. suffix used productively to form denominative verbs and their associated verbal nouns

   ‎yiarn (“iron”) + ‎-al → ‎yiarnal (“to iron”)

   ‎post (“post”) + ‎-al → ‎postal (“to post”)

From Middle Irish -amail (compare Irish -úil, Scottish Gaelic -ail, -eil), from Old Irish -amail.

-al

1. An adjectival suffix applied to various words, usually nouns, to make an adjective.

• -ee

• -ale, -all, -alle, -eel, -el, -ele, -ell, -elle

Borrowed from Old French -al, -el and its source Latin -ālis.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /-ˈal/, /-al/^[2] (from Old French -al and Latin -ālis)
• IPA^(key): /-ˈɛːl/, /-ˈɛl/, /-ɛl/^[3] (from Old French -el)

-al

1. (chiefly not productive) Forms adjectives from Latin and Romance vocabulary.

• English: -al
• Scots: -al

-al

1. A suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words.

   síipuw (“river”) → siipúwal (“rivers”)

   máxkeew (“it is red”) → maxkéewal (“they are red”)

• -al is the most common suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words, including most body parts and some words ending in the vowel a.

From Old French -al, from Latin -ālis.

-al

1. -al (of or pertaining to; adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form)

• -all (pre-1917)

From Old Norse -all in adjectives like þagall and gamall, from Proto-Germanic *-alaz.

-al (neuter -alt, definite singular and plural -ale, comparative -alare, indefinite superlative -alast, definite superlative -alaste)

1. Forms adjectives from verbs meaning “doing” or “pertaining to doing” the verb.

   ‎våga (“dare”) + ‎-al → ‎vågal (“daring, risky”)

• “-al” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• “*all” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

• -el

Borrowed from Latin -ālis. Compare the inherited -el.

-al

1. suffix used to form adjectives from nouns

   mesnal (from mesnee) ― domestic; household

• Middle French: -al
  • French: -al

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-aľь.

• IPA^(key): /al/
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: -al

-al m

1. forms masculine nouns, usually augmentative in nature

   ‎nos + ‎-al → ‎nochal

Animate/personal:

Inanimate:

Surnames:

• “-al”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

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

From Old Galician-Portuguese -al, from Latin -ālem.

• -ar, -eal, -ial, -ual

-al m or f (adjective-forming suffix, plural -ais)

1. -al (of or pertaining to)

   Synonyms: -ar, -ário, -eiro, -ico, -eal, -ial

   ‎abismo (“abyss”) + ‎-al → ‎abismal (“abyssal; abysmal”)

   ‎indústria (“factory; industry”) + ‎-al → ‎industrial (“industrial”)

2. (rarely productive) forms synonyms of adjectives containing the suffix -ico

   ‎angélico (“angelic”) + ‎-al → ‎angelical (“angelical”)

-al m or f by sense (noun-forming suffix, plural -ais)

1. appended to noun X, forms nouns meaning “a collection X” or “a large quantity of X”

   Synonym: -ário

   ‎ninho (“nest”) + ‎-al → ‎ninhal (“a bunch of nests”)

   ‎edito (“edict”) + ‎-al → ‎edital (“notice board”)

2. appended to noun X, forms nouns meaning “a place where there is plenty of X” or "field where a plant is cultivated"

   Synonyms: -açal, -egal, -eiro

   ‎trigo (“wheat”) + ‎-al → ‎trigal (“wheatfield”)

   ‎sobreiro (“cork oak”) + ‎-al → ‎sobreiral (“an orchard of cork oaks”)

   ‎pedra (“rock”) + ‎-al → ‎pedregal (“a rocky field”)

   ‎colmeia (“beehive”) + ‎-al → ‎colmeal (“a place with many beehives”)

   ‎cátedra (“clergy”) + ‎-al → ‎catedral (“a large or important church building”)

Usage notes about the use of -al or -ar in English are fully applicable to their Portuguese cognates.

The following ending(s) change(s) in words appended with this suffix:

• ⟨-ição⟩ (being part of a hiatus in feminine nouns, including plurals) → ⟨-(i)cion-⟩
• ⟨-ção⟩, ⟨-são⟩ (in feminine nouns, including plurals) → ⟨-cion-⟩, ⟨-sion-⟩
• ⟨-ão⟩ (as a non-verb suffix, including plurals) → ⟨-on-⟩
• ⟨-ã(o)-⟩ (including plurals) → ⟨-(i)an-⟩, ⟨-am-⟩, or ⟨-(i)on-⟩, depending on the base word's etymology
• ⟨-m⟩ (including plurals) → ⟨-n-⟩
• ⟨-z⟩ (in some nouns from Latin, including plurals) → ⟨-c(i)-⟩
• ⟨-dade⟩ (as a noun suffix, including plurals) → ⟨-t-⟩

In addition, if the base word ends:

• with -us, it may be dropped, e.g. viral (from vírus) and anal (from ânus);
• with a stressed falling diphthong, the semivowel is dropped, e.g. real (from rei) and ideal (from ideia); or
• with an unstressed o not following an i (mostly derived from Latin fourth declension), the form -ual may be used instead, e.g. textual (from texto) but predial (from prédio) instead of *prediual.

The ending may appear as -ial or -eal (e.g. racial, from raça, and floreal, from flor).

From the first syllable of álcool (“alcohol”) and aldeído (“aldehyde”).

-al m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ais)

1. (chemistry) forms the names of alcohols
2. (chemistry) forms the names of aldehydes

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

Borrowed from Latin -alis. Compare French -al, Italian -ale.

• IPA^(key): /al/

-al m or n (feminine singular -ală, masculine plural -ali, feminine/neuter plural -ale)

1. -al; of or pertaining to, forms adjectives from nouns.

   ‎săptămână (“week”) + ‎-al → ‎săptămânal (“weekly”)

• -aie

Inherited from Latin -ālis.

-al m or f (adjective-forming suffix, masculine and feminine plural -ales)

1. indicates relation

   ‎cultura (“culture”) + ‎-al → ‎cultural (“cultural”)

-al m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ales)

1. indicates a place where something is grown, or where there is plenty of it

   ‎maíz (“corn”) + ‎-al → ‎maizal (“corn field”)

   ‎naranja (“orange”) + ‎-al → ‎naranjal (“orange grove”)

   ‎escoria (“scoria”) + ‎-al → ‎escorial (“bed of lava”)

• -ar
• -ero

• “-al”, 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

-al

1. -al, of or pertaining to; forming an adjective from a noun

• -ell
• -ig
• -isk
• -lig
• -sam

• l:a, la

• IPA^(key): /ˈ-aɫ/

-al

1. Form of -el (u) after the vowels A / I / O / U.