aval

Borrowed from French aval.

aval (plural avals)

1. (finance, law) A financial guarantee by a third party to assume the burden of a debt, especially a bill of exchange in the event of default.

• aval, in Investopedia.

From Latin avus (“grandfather”).

aval (not comparable)

1. (rare) Of, related to, or characteristic of a grandparent.
   • 1973, Wilfred T. Neill, Twentieth-Century Indonesia, Columbia University Press, published 1973, →ISBN, page 299:

     Sosrodihardjo found it hard to support his children, and the young Sukarno was sent to stay with his grandmother […] Believing that the boy had supernatural powers of healing, she put him to licking the afflicted parts of ailing villagers, and decided that he would be a clairvoyant. But alas for aval ambitions; Sukarno turned out to be a visionary of quite a different sort.

• grandparental

• (grandfather): grandfatherly, grandpaternal
• (grandmother): grandmaternal, grandmotherly

From Malayalam അവൽ (aval) or Tamil அவல் (aval).

aval

1. Synonym of flattened rice.

• Alva, Lava, Vaal, lava

From Proto-Brythonic *aβal, from Proto-Celtic *abūl, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ébōl.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑː.val/

aval m (plural avaloù)

1. apple

Borrowed from French aval.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [əˈβal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əˈval]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aˈval]

• Audio (Barcelona):

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aval m (plural avals)

1. endorsement

• “aval”, 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
• “aval”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026

From Proto-Brythonic *aβal, from Proto-Celtic *abūl, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ébōl. Cognate with Breton aval, Irish úll, Manx ooyl, Scottish Gaelic ubhal, and Welsh afal.

• (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA^(key): [ˈaval]
• (Revived Late Cornish) IPA^(key): [ˈævɐl]

aval m (plural avalow or lavalow)

1. apple

aval (collective, singulative avalen f)

1. apple trees

aval

1. adessive singular of ava

• IPA^(key): /a.val/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Hérault)):

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• Audio (France (Saint-Étienne)):

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From à +‎ val.

aval m (uncountable)

1. downstream area, lower reaches (of river)

• en aval (“downstream”, adjective)

• → Romanian: aval

Probably an abbreviation of à valoir.

aval m (plural avals)

1. approval, endorsement

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

• lava

a +‎ val

• Audio (Languedoc):

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aval

1. down

   Antonym: amont

Borrowed from French aval,^[1][2] probably from an abbreviation of à valoir.

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

aval m (plural avais)

1. permit (an artifact or document rendering something allowed or legal)

   Synonyms: permissão, autorização, licença

2. (figurative) authorization, approval

• “aval”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

• IPA^(key): /aˈval/
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: a‧val

Borrowed from French aval (“downstream”), from à (“to”) +‎ val (“valley”).

aval n (uncountable)

1. downstream (the part located downstream relative to a point)

   Antonym: amonte

   în aval ― downstream (with the flow)

   în aval de ― downstream of, downriver from

   Peștii migrează în aval.

   The fish migrate downriver.

   Budapesta este în aval de Viena.

   Budapest is downriver from Vienna.

   Localitățile din aval au fost afectate de inundații.

   The downriver settlements were affected by floods.

   (literally, “from the downstream”)

   Presiunea din avalul valvei este mai mare decât cea din amonte.

   The pressure downstream of the valve is greater than that from upstream.

   (literally, “from the valve’s downstream”)

• vale

• la vale

Borrowed from French aval (“aval”).

aval n (plural avaluri)

1. (finance, law) aval

• “aval”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Borrowed from French aval.

• IPA^(key): /aˈbal/ [aˈβ̞al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: a‧val

aval m (plural avales)

1. endorsement

   Synonym: endoso

   • 2024 May 16, Camilo S. Baquero, Marc Rovira, “Junqueras quiere que la militancia avale su aspiración a seguir liderando ERC”, in El País‎^[1]:

     Oriol Junqueras aspira a llegar al congreso extraordinario de ERC, que se celebrará el 30 de noviembre, con un aval claro de la militancia para repetir como presidente de la formación, pese a haber dejado el cargo el miércoles.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. countersignature
3. guarantee

   Synonym: garantía

• “aval”, 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