Wal

Wal

See also: wal, WAL, wäl, wał, wal•, and wal-

German

Etymology

From Old High German wal, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos (“sheatfish”). Compare Low German Waal, English whale, Danish hval, Swedish val; compare also Dutch walvis, German Low German Waalfisch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vaːl/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophone: Wahl
• Rhymes: -aːl

Noun

Wal m (genitive Wales, plural Wale)

1. whale

Declension

Declension of Wal

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Wal	die	Wale
genitive	eines	des	Wales, Wals	der	Wale
dative	einem	dem	Wal, Wale1	den	Walen
accusative	einen	den	Wal	die	Wale

¹Now uncommon, see notes

See also

• Wahl (election)

Further reading

• Wal in Duden online

---

Luxembourgish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vaːl/
  • Rhymes: -aːl

Etymology 1

From German Wal, from Old High German wal, from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz. Compare Dutch walvis, English whale, Danish hval, Icelandic hvalur.

Noun

Wal m (plural Walen)

1. whale

Etymology 2

From German Wahl, Old High German wala, from Proto-Germanic *walō. The related terms below are inherited.

Alternative forms

• Wahl (nonstandard, but not rare, to distinguish from etymology 1)

Noun

Wal f (plural Walen)

1. (politics) election

Related terms

• Wiel
• wielen

Etymology 3

From Old High German wald, from Proto-Germanic *walþuz. Cognate with German Wald, Dutch woud, English wold

Noun

Wal m (uncountable)

1. (in field names, otherwise widely archaic) forest

Synonyms

• Bësch