leal

leal

See also: Leal and leâl

English

Etymology

From Middle English leel, lel, borrowed from Anglo-Norman leal and Old French leial, from Latin lēgālis. Doublet of loyal and legal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liːl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːl

Adjective

leal (comparative lealer, superlative lealest)

1. (now chiefly Scotland) Loyal, honest.
   • 1848, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son

     Mr Toots, like the leal and trusty soul he was, stopped the cabriolet in a twinkling, and told Susan Nipper of his commission, at which she cried more than before.

   • 2000, George R. R. Martin, A Storm of Swords, Bantam 2011, p. 858:

     We thank you for the pure white fire of his goodness, for the red sword of justice in his hand, for the love he bears his leal people.

2. (now only Scotland) True, genuine.
   • 1885, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, “In which are Continued the Refinements wherewith Don Quixote Played the Part of a Lover in the Sierra Morena”, in John Ormsby, transl., The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha […] In Four Vols, volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co. […], OCLC 906154755, part I, page 30:

     The lealest lover time can show, / Doomed for a lady-love to languish, / Among these solitudes doth go, / A prey to every kind of anguish.

Anagrams

• Ella, Lela

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Galician

Etymology

From Old Portuguese, from Latin legālis. Compare legal.

Adjective

leal m or f (plural leais)

1. adhering to the rules of propriety, fair, honest, loyal, true

Antonyms

• desleal

Derived terms

• lealmente

Related terms

• lealdade
• lei

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Ladin

Etymology

From Latin legālis.

Adjective

leal m (feminine singular leala, masculine plural leai, feminine plural leales)

1. loyal
2. honest

Synonyms

• (loyal): fedel

Related terms

• lege

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Old French

Adjective

leal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular leal)

1. Alternative form of loial

Declension

Declension of leal

Number	Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	Subject	leax	leal (later leale)	leal
	Oblique	leal			leal (later leale)	leal
Plural	Subject	leal	leax (later leales)		leal
	Oblique	leax			leax (later leales)	leal

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Portuguese leal, from Latin legālis. Doublet of legal, borrowed from the same source.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /leˈaw/ [leˈaʊ̯]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈljal/ [ˈljaɫ]

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

Adjective

leal m or f (plural leais)

1. adhering to the rules of propriety, fair, honest, loyal, true

   Antonym: desleal

Derived terms

• lealmente

Related terms

• lealdade
• lei

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Romanian

Etymology

From Italian leale.

Adjective

leal m or n (feminine singular leală, masculine plural leali, feminine and neuter plural leale)

1. loyal, faithful

Declension

Declension of leal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	leal		leală	leali	leale
	definite	lealul		leala	lealii	lealele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	leal		leale	leali	leale
	definite	lealului		lealei	lealilor	lealelor

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Scots

Etymology

From Middle English leel, lel, borrowed from Anglo-Norman leal and Old French leial, from Latin lēgālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lil/

Adjective

leal (comparative mair leal, superlative maist leal)

1. loyal
2. true, pure

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Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish, from Latin legālis. See also the borrowed doublet legal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈal/ [leˈal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: le‧al

Adjective

leal (plural leales)

1. adhering to the rules of propriety, fair, honest, loyal, true

   Synonym: fiel

   Antonym: desleal

Derived terms

• lealmente

Related terms

• lealtad
• ley

Further reading

• “leal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014