Wiktionary

verbal

See also: vèrbal

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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From Old French verbal, from Late Latin verbālis (“belonging to a word”). Equivalent to verb +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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verbal (not comparable)

  1. Of or relating to words.
    Synonym: wordish
  2. Concerned with the words, rather than the substance of a text.
    Antonym: substantive
  3. Consisting of words only.
    • 1864, Henry Mayhew, German Life and Manners as Seen in Saxony at the Present:
      We subjoin an engraving […] which will give the reader a far better notion of the structure than any verbal description could convey to the mind.
    • 1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations:
      It was not a verbal remark, but a proceeding in dumb-show
  4. Expressly spoken rather than written; oral.
    a verbal contract
    a verbal testimony
    • 1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations:
      You can't have verbal communication with a man in New South Wales, you know.
    • 1944, George Orwell, “What is Fascism?”, in Tribune:
      I am not speaking of the verbal use of the term 'Fascist'. I am speaking of what I have seen in print.
  5. (grammar) Derived from, or having the nature of a verb.
    Synonym: rhematic
  6. (grammar) Used to form a verb.
  7. Capable of speech.
    Antonyms: preverbal, non-verbal
    • 2005, Avril V. Brereton, Bruce J. Tonge, Pre-schoolers with autism, page 55:
      How do these language problems affect the behaviour of verbal children?
  8. Word for word.
    Synonyms: literal, verbatim
    a verbal translation
  9. (obsolete) Abounding with words; verbose.

Synonyms

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  • (of or relating to speech or words): lectic

Antonyms

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  • (antonym(s) of “expressly spoken or written”): implied
  • (antonym(s) of “expressly stated”): unsaid

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

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verbal (countable and uncountable, plural verbals)

  2. (countable, grammar) A verb form which does not function as a predicate, or a word derived from a verb. In English, infinitives, participles and gerunds are verbals.
    Synonym: non-finite verb
  3. (countable, UK, Ireland) A spoken confession given to police.
    • 1982, New South Wales. Parliament, Parliamentary Debates, page 2496:
      They were convicted on the evidence of an agent provocateur named Richard Seary, backed up by police verbals from three police officers who gave evidence of six verbals in which the three accused were supposed to have admitted their guilt.
  4. (uncountable, UK, Ireland, colloquial) Talk; speech, especially banter or scolding.
    • 2013, Lenny McLean, The Guv'nor:
      We'd give him a bit of verbal, out would come the bouncers, chucking their weight about, and it would all end in a right tear-up.

Translations

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Verb

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verbal (third-person singular simple present verbals, present participle verballing, simple past and past participle verballed)

  1. (transitive, British, Australia) To allege (usually falsely) that someone has made an oral admission.
    • 1982, John A. Andrews, Human Rights in Criminal Procedure: A Comparative Study, BRILL, →ISBN, page 128:
      The problem of 'verballing' is unlikely to disappear, whatever the legal status of the person detained.
    • 2001, Chris Cunneen, Conflict, Politics and Crime: Aboriginal Communities and the Police, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN, page 116:
      Condren had always claimed that he was assaulted and verballed by police over the murder he had supposedly confessed to committing. Specifically, Condren claimed that he had been subjected to assault and intimidation prior to making a police record of interview, that the record of interview was largely fabricated by police, and that the oral admissions which police claimed he had made prior to the record of interview were also fabricated.
    • 2004, Jeremy Gans, Andrew Palmer, Australian Principles of Evidence, Routledge Cavendish, →ISBN, page 504:
      "Moreover, given the risk of verballing, it is by no means apparent that it is in the interests of justice that the prosecution have the benefit of admissions that are made on occasions when recordings are impracticable."
    • 2019, Kate Burridge, Tonya N. Stebbins, For the love of language: An Introduction to Linguistics‎[1], page 305:
      Kelvin Condren maintained his innocence, claiming that he was 'verballed' in his police record of interview (so they were someone else's words not his).
    • 2020, Inigo Bing, Populism on Trial: What Happens When Trust in Law Breaks Down‎[2]:
      As the necessary ingredient of an intention to commit an offence usually came from the mouth of the suspect himself, it was not difficult to make an arrest if the suspect was 'verballed'. A 'verbal' consisted of an unequivocal oral admission of guilt made to a police officer on the street, which, later on, the police officer transcribed into his notebook. It is called a 'verbal' if the suspect later denies making the incriminating remark.

Anagrams

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Albanian

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Etymology

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Internationalism, compare English verbal, Italian verbale.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /veɾˈbal/
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Hyphenation: ver‧bál

Adjective

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verbal (feminine verbale)

  1. (literary) verbal
    Antonym: gojor
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References

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  • “verbal”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006

Aragonese

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Etymology

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By surface analysis, verbo (“verb”) +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /beɾˈbal/
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: ver‧bal

Adjective

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verbal (plural verbals)

  1. (grammar) verbal (relating to verbs)
    Synonym: verballo

References

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  • “verbal”, in Aragonario, diccionario aragonés–castellano (in Spanish)

Catalan

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Etymology

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From Late Latin verbālis.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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verbal m or f (masculine and feminine plural verbals)

  1. verbal (of or relating to words)
  2. verbal (spoken rather than written)
  3. (grammar) verbal (relating to verbs)

Derived terms

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Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Late Latin verbālis. By surface analysis, verbe +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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verbal (feminine verbale, masculine plural verbaux, feminine plural verbales)

  1. verbal

Derived terms

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Further reading

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German

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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verbal (strong nominative masculine singular verbaler, not comparable)

  1. verbal
    Synonym: mündlich
  2. (linguistics) verbal

Declension

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Positive forms of verbal (uncomparable)
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist verbal sie ist verbal es ist verbal sie sind verbal
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative verbaler verbale verbales verbale
genitive verbalen verbaler verbalen verbaler
dative verbalem verbaler verbalem verbalen
accusative verbalen verbale verbales verbale
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der verbale die verbale das verbale die verbalen
genitive des verbalen der verbalen des verbalen der verbalen
dative dem verbalen der verbalen dem verbalen den verbalen
accusative den verbalen die verbale das verbale die verbalen
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein verbaler eine verbale ein verbales (keine) verbalen
genitive eines verbalen einer verbalen eines verbalen (keiner) verbalen
dative einem verbalen einer verbalen einem verbalen (keinen) verbalen
accusative einen verbalen eine verbale ein verbales (keine) verbalen

Further reading

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  • “verbal” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • “verbal” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Indonesian

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Etymology

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From Dutch verbaal, from Middle French verbal, from Latin verbālis. Doublet of perbal.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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verbal (comparative lebih verbal, superlative paling verbal)

  1. verbal, oral (expressly spoken rather than written)
  2. (linguistics) verbal (pertaining to verbs)
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Further reading

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Portuguese

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Late Latin verbālis.[1] By surface analysis, verbo +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

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verbal m or f (plural verbais)

  1. verbal, oral
  2. (grammar) verbal (derived from, or having the nature of a verb)

Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ “verbal”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French verbal, from Latin verbalis.

Adjective

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verbal m or n (feminine singular verbală, masculine plural verbali, feminine and neuter plural verbale)

  1. verbal

Declension

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Declension of verbal
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative-
accusative 		indefinite verbal verbală verbali verbale
definite verbalul verbala verbalii verbalele
genitive-
dative 		indefinite verbal verbale verbali verbale
definite verbalului verbalei verbalilor verbalelor

Spanish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Late Latin verbālis.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /beɾˈbal/ [beɾˈβ̞al]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: ver‧bal

Adjective

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verbal m or f (masculine and feminine plural verbales)

  1. verbal (of or relating to words)
  2. verbal (spoken rather than written)
  3. (grammar) verbal (relating to verbs)

Derived terms

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Noun

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verbal m (plural verbales)

  1. (grammar) verbal
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Further reading

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