Saul

Borrowed from Old English Saul. Doublet of Silas, which derived from Aramaic.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /sɔːl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /sɑl/
• Rhymes: -ɔːl, -ɑl

Saul

2. (biblical) The first king of Israel in the Old Testament.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 16:23, column 2:

     And it came to paſſe, when the euill ſpirit from God was vpon Saul, that Dauid tooke an harpe, and played with his hand: So Saul was refreſhed, and was well, and the euill ſpirit departed from him.

3. (Christianity) The Hebrew name of Apostle Paul in the New Testament.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 13:9, column 2:

     Then Saul (who alſo is called Paul) filled with the holy Ghoſt, ſet his eyes on him

4. A male given name from Hebrew.
   • 2000, Peter Abrahams, Crying Wolf, Ballantine Books, →ISBN:

     “You got an uncle named Saul?” “I never mentioned him?” “What are you saying —you got some Jewish guy for an uncle?” “He's not Jewish. It's just a name they have back in the old country.”

5. A surname.
6. A village in Fretherne with Saul parish, Stroud district, Gloucestershire, England (OS grid ref SO7409).
7. A village near Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland.
8. An unincorporated community in Perry County, Kentucky, United States.

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Saul is the 4981^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 7047 individuals. Saul is most common among White (95.85%) individuals.

• Auls, Luas, ULAS, ULAs, alus, auls

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɑu̯l/, [ˈsɑu̯l]

Saul (genitive Sauli, partitive Sauli)

1. a surname

From Biblical Hebrew שָׁאוּל (šāʾûl, literally “asked (for)”).^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɑu̯l/, [ˈs̠ɑ̝u̯l]
• Rhymes: -ɑul
• Syllabification^(key): Saul
• Hyphenation^(key): Saul

Saul

1. (biblical) Saul
2. a male given name

• Saul is the 886^th (tied with 4 other names) most common male given name in Finland, belonging to 138 male individuals (and as a middle name to 86 more), according to August 2025 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek Σαούλ (Saoúl).

(Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈsa.uːɫ]

• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsaː.ul]

Saūl m sg (genitive Saūl or Saūlis); indeclinable, variously declined, third declension

1. Saul, the first king of Israel

Indeclinable noun or third-declension noun, singular only.

• “Saul”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Saul”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Learned borrowing from Late Latin Saūl, from Koine Greek Σαούλ (Saoúl), from Biblical Hebrew שָׁאוּל (šāʾûl).

Saul m

1. Saul (biblical king of Israel)

Strong a-stem:

From Latin Saūl, from Koine Greek Σαούλ (Saoúl), from Biblical Hebrew שָׁאוּל (šāʾûl).

Saul m

1. Saul (first king of Israel)
   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 30^a3

     Amal nád n-airigther ⁊ nád fintar a ndu·gníther hi suidi, sic ba in fortgidiu ⁊ ba hi temul du·gníth Saul cona muntair intleda ⁊ erelca fri Dauid.

     As what is done in this is not perceived and discovered, so it was covertly and it was in darkness that Saul with his people was making snares and ambushes against David.

Learned borrowing from Late Latin Saul.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsawl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -awl
• Syllabification: Saul

Saul m pers

1. (biblical) Saul (first ruler of Israel)
   • 2003, Jan Łach, chapter 15, in Pierwsza Księga Samuela‎^[1], Poznań: Wydawnictwo Pallottinum; translation of anonymous author, ספר שְׁמוּאֵל, (Please provide a date or year):

     Żałuję tego, że Saula ustanowiłem królem. […]

     I regret that I made Saul king. […]

2. (countable, rare) a male given name from Late Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek, in turn from Hebrew], equivalent to English Saul

   Rodzinie Saula nieźle się powodzi. ― Saul's family is doing quite well.

• “Saul”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)
• Saul in PWN's encyclopedia

Learned borrowing from Late Latin Saul.

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ul, (Brazil) -uw
• Hyphenation: Sa‧ul

Saul m

1. (biblical) Saul (first king of Israel)