Definitions and meaning of pal
pal
Translingual
Symbol
pal
- (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Middle Persian.
See also
-
- Wiktionary’s coverage of Middle Persian terms
English
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Angloromani pal (“brother, friend”), from Romani phral (“brother”), from Sanskrit भ्रातृ (bhrātṛ, “brother”). Doublet of bhai, brother, bru, frater, friar, and vai.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pæl/
-
-
- Rhymes: -æl
- Homophone: pow (some accents)
Noun
pal (plural pals)
- (colloquial) A friend, buddy, mate, cobber; someone to hang around with.
- (colloquial) An informal term of address, often used ironically in a hostile way.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:friend
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
Verb
pal (third-person singular simple present pals, present participle palling, simple past and past participle palled)
- Synonym of pal around.
Related terms
See also
Etymology 2
Noun
pal (plural pals)
- Alternative form of paul (“kind of tent”).
Anagrams
- ALP, APL, LPA, PLA, Pla, alp, lap
Angloromani
Alternative forms
- palla, pel, pral, prala, pralla, pulu
Etymology
Inherited from Romani phral. Cognate with English brother.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈpʰæl], [pʰæɫ]
Noun
pal
- brother
- friend
Derived terms
Descendants
References
- “pal”, in Angloromani Dictionary[5], The Manchester Romani Project, 2004-2006, page 25
- “pal”, in Angloromani Dictionary[6], The Manchester Romani Project, 2004-2006, page 59
Asturian
Etymology
From a contraction of the preposition pa (“for”) + masculine singular article el (“the”).
Contraction
pal m
- for the
Azerbaijani
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).
Noun
pal (definite accusative palı, plural pallar)
- the green husk of a young hazelnut
Declension
Further reading
Cahuilla
Etymology
From Proto-Uto-Aztecan *pa.
Noun
pál
- water
References
- Katherine Siva Sauvel, Pamela Munro (1983) Chem'ivillu' (let's speak Cahuilla)
Catalan
Etymology
Inherited from Old Catalan pal, from Latin pālus (“stake, pole”), from Proto-Italic *pākslos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-slos, from *peh₂ǵ-.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈpal]
- Rhymes: -al
Noun
pal m (plural pals)
- stake
- pole
- (field hockey or ice hockey) stick
- Synonym: estic
- (heraldry) pale
- (colloquial) bore, drag
- és un pal ― he's a drag
Related terms
See also
References
- “pal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April
- “pal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
- “pal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “pal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Cupeño
Etymology
From Proto-Uto-Aztecan *pa. Cognate with Cahuilla pál, Luiseño paala, Tübatulabal bal, Northern Paiute paa, Comanche paa, Hopi paahu, Classical Nahuatl atl.
Noun
pál
- water
References
- Jane H. Hill (2005) A Grammar of Cupeño
Cypriot Arabic
Etymology
From Arabic بَال (bāl).
Noun
pal m
- (always with a pronominal suffix) mind, attention, memory
References
- Borg, Alexander (2004) A Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic (Arabic–English) (Handbook of Oriental Studies; I.70), Leiden and Boston: Brill, page 169
Czech
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈpal]
- Rhymes: -al
Interjection
pal!
- fire! (a signal to shoot)
Verb
pal
- second-person singular imperative of pálit
Further reading
- “pal”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
- “pal”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle French pal, from Latin pālus. Cognate with paal.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɑl/
-
- Rhymes: -ɑl
Noun
pal m (plural pallen, diminutive palletje n)
- catch (mechanism which stops something from moving the wrong way)
Adverb
pal
- firm, firmly
- (with a preposition or adverb) right, immediately
Anagrams
French
Etymology
From Old French pal (12th c.), variant of pel, from Latin pālus (“stake, pole”). Doublet of pieu. The Trésor informatisé considers Old French pal a learned borrowing, but it might be a dialectal variant instead.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pal/
-
- Homophones: pale, pales, pals (general), pâle, pâles (chiefly France)
Noun
pal m (plural pals or (archaic) paux)
- stake
- pole
- (heraldry) pale
Further reading
- “pal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Garo
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Postposition
pal
- (follows genitive case -ni) because, on account of
Indonesian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈpal]
- Hyphenation: pal
Etymology 1
From Dutch paal (“pole”), from Middle Dutch pâel, from Old Dutch pāl, from Latin pālus. Semantic loan from Dutch mijlpaal (“milestone”).
Noun
pal (plural pal-pal)
- milestone, one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road at regular intervals, typically at the side of the road or in a median
- Synonyms: batu, mil, tonggak
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Noun
pal (plural pal-pal)
- nonstandard spelling of faal
Further reading
- “pal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.
Lower Sorbian
Pronunciation
Participle
pal
- second-person singular imperative of paliś
Northern Kurdish
Pronunciation
-
- IPA(key): /pɑːl/
- Rhymes: -al
Noun
pal ?
- side
Occitan
Pronunciation
Noun
pal m (plural pals)
- post, pole, stake
- (nautical) mast
Old English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin pālus (“stake”), possibly through a Proto-West Germanic intermediate *pāl. Compare Old High German pfāl (German Pfahl), Old Dutch pāl (Dutch paal). Doublet of pǣl, from the variant Proto-West Germanic *pāli.
Pronunciation
Noun
pāl m
- stake
Declension
Strong a-stem:
Descendants
- Middle English: pole, pol, poll, pall, paal
- English: pole
- Scots: pale, pall
- Yola: pulmere
Old Frisian
Etymology
Borrowed from either Old Dutch pāl or Old High German pāl, from Proto-West Germanic *pāl, from Latin pālus (“stake, prop”), from Proto-Italic *pākslos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (“to attach”). Cognate to Old English pāl. Doublet of pēl.
Pronunciation
Noun
pāl f
- pole
Descendants
- North Frisian: pul
- West Frisian: peal, poal
References
- Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN
Pipil
Pronunciation
- (standard) IPA(key): /pal/
Noun
-pal
- of (genitive relation, also forms genitive pronouns)
- for (benefactive relation)
Usage notes
- The relational noun -pal is part of a restricted group of relationals that can be used without a possessive marker when it accompanies an explicit complement, thus acting like a preposition:
Declension
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpal/
-
- Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: pal
- Homophones: Pal, PAL
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Middle High German pfāl, phāl, from Old High German pfāl, phāl, from Proto-West Germanic *pāl, *pāli, from Latin pālus, from Proto-Italic *pākslos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-slos, from *peh₂ǵ-.
Noun
pal m inan (diminutive palik)
- stake (piece of wood)
- (construction) pile (for the support of a building)
- Hypernym: słup
Declension
Derived terms
Related terms
Etymology 2
Imperative of palić.
Interjection
pal
- (military) shoot!
Etymology 3
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
pal
- second-person singular imperative of palić
Further reading
- pal in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- pal in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French pâle.
Adjective
pal m or n (feminine singular pală, masculine plural pali, feminine and neuter plural pale)
- pale
Declension
Southwestern Dinka
Noun
pal (plural paal)
- knife
Spanish
Contraction
pal
- (colloquial) contraction of para (“for”) + el (“the”)
Related terms
Further reading
- “pal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
Volapük
Pronunciation
Noun
pal (nominative plural pals)
- parent, father or mother
- Hyponyms: fat, hipal, jipal, mot
Declension
Derived terms
See also
Source: wiktionary.org