musical

Alternative forms

• musicall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English musical, from Old French [Term?], from Medieval Latin mūsicālis, from Latin mūsica (“music”) +‎ -ālis (suffix forming adjectives); equivalent to music +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmju.zɪ.kəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

musical (comparative more musical, superlative most musical)

1. Of, belonging or relating to music, or to its performance or notation.

   musical proportion

   musical instruments

2. Pleasing to the ear; sounding agreeably; having the qualities of music; melodious; harmonious.

   She had a musical voice.

3. Fond of music; discriminating with regard to music; gifted or skilled in music.

   having a musical ear

   The child is musical.

4. Pertaining to a class of games in which players move while music plays, but have to take a fixed position when it stops; by extension, any situation where people repeatedly change positions.
   • 1962, Edward Albee, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: A Play, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 34:

     Musical beds is the faculty sport around here.

   • 2004, Mike Bright, A Dream Realized: A Collection of Poems by Cowboy Mike Bright, Xulon Press, →ISBN, page 341:

     Musical seats upon an airplane is not a game I recommend.

   • 2006, Evelyn Palfrey, The Price of Passion, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 441:

     “Sounds like y'all are playing musical houses. How did you convince your mama to move to Austin?”

   • 2011, Leonard James Schoppa, The Evolution of Japan's Party System: Politics and Policy in an Era of Institutional Change, University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, page 14:

     Parties were splitting, forming, merging, and dissolving in such rapid succession that the game of musical chairs seemed to describe what was going on better than any known theory of political science.

   • 2014, Tyler McMahon, Kilometer 99: A Novel, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 138:

     Among my small circle of college friends, and even more so among the volunteers here, couples are so often changing places, people playing musical lovers.

Noun

musical (plural musicals)

2. A stage performance, show or film that involves singing, dancing and musical numbers performed by the cast as well as acting.
   • 2004, Steven Adler, On Broadway: Art and Commerce on the Great White Way, SIU Press, →ISBN, page 221:

     It is unthinkable for a straight play to enjoy a life span like those of the blockbuster musicals or to earn such astronomical grosses.

3. (probably archaic or obsolete) A meeting or a party for a musical entertainment; a musicale.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [mu.ziˈkal]

Adjective

musical m or f (masculine and feminine plural musicals)

1. musical

Noun

musical m (plural musicals)

1. musical

Further reading

• “musical” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “musical”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “musical” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “musical” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology

Borrowed from English musical.

Noun

musical c (singular definite musicalen, plural indefinite musicaler or musicals)

1. A musical.

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin mūsicālis. By surface analysis, musique +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /my.zi.kal/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

musical (feminine musicale, masculine plural musicaux, feminine plural musicales)

1. musical

Further reading

• “musical”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• musclai

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /musiˈkal/ [mu.s̺iˈkɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: mu‧si‧cal

Adjective

musical m or f (plural musicais)

1. musical; of or pertaining to music

   Synonym: músico

Further reading

• “musical”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• “musical” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).