leal

See also: Leal and leâl

English

Etymology

Inherited 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) (now chiefly Scotland)

1. 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.

2. 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.

Derived terms

• Land of the Leal

 

Anagrams

• Ella, Lela

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese, from Latin legālis. Compare legal.

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

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

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

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• leial (obsolete spelling)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

 

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

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈljal/ [ˈljaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈlja.li/

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

Adjective

leal m or f (plural leais, comparable, comparative mais leal, superlative o mais leal or lealíssimo)

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

   Antonym: desleal

Derived terms

• lealmente

Related terms

• lealdade
• lei

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian leale.

Adjective

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

1. loyal, faithful

Declension

		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

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

Spanish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

leal m or f (masculine and feminine 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 [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28