leal
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English leel, lel, borrowed from Anglo-Norman leal and Old French leial, from Latin lēgālis. Doublet of loyal and legal.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
leal (comparative lealer, superlative lealest)
- (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, published 2011, page 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.
- (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, 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 edit
Galician edit
Etymology edit
From Old Galician-Portuguese, from Latin legālis. Compare legal.
Adjective edit
leal m or f (plural leais)
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Ladin edit
Etymology edit
Adjective edit
leal m (feminine singular leala, masculine plural leai, feminine plural leales)
Synonyms edit
- (loyal): fedel
Related terms edit
Old French edit
Adjective edit
leal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular leal)
- Alternative form of loial
Declension edit
Portuguese edit
Alternative forms edit
- leial (obsolete spelling)
Etymology edit
From Old Galician-Portuguese leal, from Latin legālis. Doublet of legal, borrowed from the same source.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
leal m or f (plural leais, comparable, comparative mais leal, superlative o mais leal or lealíssimo)
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Adjective edit
leal m or n (feminine singular leală, masculine plural leali, feminine and neuter plural leale)
Declension edit
Scots edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English leel, lel, borrowed from Anglo-Norman leal and Old French leial, from Latin lēgālis.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
leal (comparative mair leal, superlative maist leal)
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old Spanish, from Latin legālis. See also the borrowed doublet legal.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
leal m or f (masculine and feminine plural leales)
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “leal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014