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⇱ -al - WordReference.com Dictionary of English


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
-al1 ,suffix. 
  1. -al is used to form adjectives from nouns, with the meaning "relating to, of the kind of, having the form or character of:'' autumn + -al → autumnal (= relating to the season autumn);
    nature     + -al → natural (= having the character of nature).

-al2 ,suffix. 
  1. -al is used to form nouns from verbs, with the meaning "the act of:'' deny + -al → denial (= the act of denying);
    refuse     + -al → refusal (= the act of refusing).

AL,  an abbreviation of:
  1. Alabama.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
-al suffix forming adjectives
  1. of; related to; connected with: functional, sectional, tonal
Etymology: from Latin -ālis
-al suffix forming nouns
  1. the act or process of doing what is indicated by the verb stem: rebuttal, recital, renewal
Etymology: via Old French -aille, -ail, from Latin -ālia, neuter plural used as substantive, from -ālis -al1
-al suffix forming nouns
  1. indicating an aldehyde: ethanal
  2. indicating a pharmaceutical product: phenobarbital
Etymology: shortened from aldehyde
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
al  (äl),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Plant BiologySee Indian mulberry. 
  • Hindi āl

Al  (al),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Chemistrya male given name: form of Albert, Alfred, Aloysius. 

à l', 
  1. form of à la used for either gender before a vowel or h.

al-, 
  1. var. of ad- before l: allure.

Al-, 
  1. a word in Arabic names meaning "family'' or "the house of '':Al-Saud, or the members of the house of Saud.
  • Arabic āl family

-al1 :
  1. a suffix with the general sense "of the kind of, pertaining to, having the form or character of'' that named by the stem, occurring in loanwords from Latin (autumnal;
    natural;
    pastoral    ), and productive in English on the Latin model, usually with bases of Latin origin (accidental;
    seasonal;
    tribal    ). Originally, -al1 was restricted to stems not containing an -l- (cf.-ar1);
    recent lapses in this rule have produced semantically distinct pairs, as familiar and familial. Cf. -ical, ial. 
  • Old French
  • Latin ālis, -āle; often replacing Middle English -el

-al2 :
  1. a suffix forming nouns from verbs, usually verbs of French or Latin origin: denial;
    refusal.
  • Latin -ālia
  • Old French
  • Latin -āle (singular), -ālia (plural), nominalized neuter of -ālis -al1; often replacing Middle English -aille

-al3 :
  1. [Chem.]a suffix indicating that a compound contains an aldehyde group: chloral.
  • presumed to be short for aldehyde

AL, 
    1. Alabama (approved esp. for use with zip code).
    2. Language VarietiesAnglo-Latin.

Al, [Symbol, Chem.]
  1. aluminum.

AL., 
  1. Language VarietiesAnglo-Latin.

al., 
    1. other things.
      • Latin alia
    2. other persons.
    • Latin alia

A.L., 
    1. Sport[Baseball.]American League.
    2. American Legion.
    3. Language VarietiesAnglo-Latin.

a.l., 
  1. autograph letter.

'-al' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "-al" in the title:

...the findings of Belojevic et al. which/who showed that ...
(al)though...yet/nevertheless...
(new) sensation(al) vegetable juice
a lacklustre al fresco cavalcade of special effects
a man whom captured al Qaeda operatives
a song that AL composed
abbreviation for "and others", but not et al.
Adjectives ending in "c" and "al"
Adjectives ending with -ic and -ical: historic/al, hysteric/al, electric/al, economic/al ... ...
Al Capone associates
Al decided
al dente
Al LeRoux
Al Minser and his pyramid of dogs / make on the floor
al things were reueled
Alcoholics Anonymous vs Al-Anon
all right / al-right / al right
anti al nino?
at the horribleness of it al
below al that
"bin Laden and al Qaeda appear to be treated merely as first among equals."
Can "et al." be used in non-scholarly context?
Clothes worn by Al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists
Combination of two references one with an "et al."
crow about buying Al Gore a snow shovel
Crown et al. (2009) define leadership
Cumming et.al.(2005) state/states
department<al> store
Determine / define> the <period/ time of> the Age of Al-Jaheliyya
Electric(al) bulb
more...

Look up "-al" at Merriam-Webster
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