nasal

Etymology

From Middle English, from Medieval Latin nāsālis, from nāsus (“the nose”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Doublet of nasalis.

Pronunciation

• enPR: nā'zəl IPA^(key): /ˈneɪ.zəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪzəl

Adjective

nasal (comparative more nasal, superlative most nasal)

1. (anatomy, relational) Of or pertaining to the nose or to the nasion.

   Synonyms: nosely, nosey

   • 2013 March, Nancy Langston, “Mining the Boreal North”, in American Scientist‎, volume 101, number 2, page 98:

     Reindeer are well suited to the taiga’s frigid winters. They can maintain a thermogradient between body core and the environment of up to 100 degrees, in part because of insulation provided by their fur, and in part because of counter-current vascular heat exchange systems in their legs and nasal passages.

2. (phonetics) Having a sound imparted by means of the nose; and specifically, made by lowering the soft palate, in some cases with closure of the oral passage, the voice thus issuing (wholly or partially) through the nose, as in the consonants m, n, ng.

   Hypernyms: sonorant, resonant

   nasal vowel

3. (phonetics) Characterized by resonance in the nasal passage.

   nasal utterance

   • 2016, A.K. Brown, Jumpstart (Champagne Universe Series: Book 1), page 2:

     "Are you sure you're OK?" she said with a nasal Australian accent.

4. (music) Sharp, penetrating.

Noun

nasal (plural nasals)

1. (medicine, archaic) A medicine that operates through the nose; an errhine.
2. (phonetics) Ellipsis of nasal consonant.

   Hyponym: velar nasal

3. (phonetics) Ellipsis of nasal vowel.
4. (historical) The part of a helmet projecting to protect the nose; a nose guard.
   • 1909, Charles Henry Ashdown, European Arms & Armor, page 78:

     The nasal continued in use until about 1140, when it was generally discarded, but isolated examples may be found in every succeeding century down to the seventeenth.

   • 1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam Books, published 2011, page 463:

     Rorge had donned a black halfhelm with a broad iron nasal that made it hard to see that he did not have a nose.

5. (anatomy) Ellipsis of nasal bone.
6. (zootomy) A plate, or scale, on the nose of a fish, etc.

References

• “nasal”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “nasal”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• -salan, Alans, Anals, NALSA, alans, anals, nalas

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈsal/, [naˈsal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: na‧sal

Adjective

nasal (epicene, plural nasales)

1. nasal

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [nəˈzal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [naˈzal]

Adjective

nasal m or f (masculine and feminine plural nasals)

1. nasal

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin nāsālis, from Latin nāsus (“nose”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na.zal/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

nasal (feminine nasale, masculine plural nasaux, feminine plural nasales)

1. nasal
2. (phonetics, phonology) nasal

Further reading

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈsal/ [naˈs̺ɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: na‧sal

Adjective

nasal m or f (plural nasais)

1. nasal

Further reading

• “nasal”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024

Etymology

From Latin nasalis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈzaːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

nasal (strong nominative masculine singular nasaler, not comparable)

1. nasal

Further reading

• “nasal” in Duden online
• “nasal” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Adjective

nasal (not comparable)

1. nasal

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈzal/
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

nasal

1. nasal

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nāsālis.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

nasal m or f (plural nasais, not comparable)

1. nasal

Noun

nasal f (plural nasais)

1. nasal consonant

Noun

nasal m (plural nasais)

1. nasal bone

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin nāsālis, from Latin nāsus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈsal/ [naˈsal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: na‧sal

Adjective

nasal m or f (masculine and feminine plural nasales)

1. nasal

Noun

nasal f (plural nasales)

1. nasal, nasal consonant

Further reading

• “nasal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Adjective

nasal (comparative nasalare, superlative nasalast)

1. (anatomy) nasal
2. (phonetics) nasal
3. nasal (having a nasal tone)

   en nasal röst

   a nasal voice

Noun

nasal c

1. a nasal (nasal consonant, nasal vowel)

References

• nasal in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• nasal in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• nasal in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)