oral

Early 17th century borrowing from Late Latin ōrālis, from ōs (“the mouth”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.ɹəl/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (General American, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈoɹəl/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • (East Coast) IPA^(key): /ˈɑɹ.əl/
• Homophone: aural
• Rhymes: -ɔːɹəl
• (without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: ōrʹəl, IPA^(key): /ˈo(ː)ɹəl/

oral (not comparable)

1. (relational) Relating to the mouth.

   Synonym: (rare) mouthly

   oral hygiene

   oral sex

   1. (pharmacology) Done or taken by the mouth.
   2. (phonetics, of a speech sound) Pronounced by the voice resonating in the mouth, as the vowels in English.
   3. (psychoanalysis, in Freudian theory) Relating to or denoting a stage of infantile psychosexual development during which libidinal gratification is derived from intake (as of food), by sucking, and later by biting.
   4. Of, relating to, or characterized by personality traits of passive dependency and aggressiveness.
2. (relational) Spoken rather than written.

   Synonyms: spoken, verbal

   Antonym: written

   an oral presentation

   an oral French exam

   1. Relating to the transmission of information or literature by word of mouth.
   2. Using speech or the lips especially in teaching the deaf.
   3. (sociolinguistics, of a society) Not having reached the stage of literacy.

• oracy
• orature

oral (plural orals)

1. (countable) A spoken test or examination, particularly in a language class.

   We've got our Spanish oral tomorrow.

2. (countable, usually in the plural) A physical examination of the mouth.
3. (uncountable, informal) Ellipsis of oral sex..

   I gave my boyfriend oral for the first time on his birthday.

4. (bodybuilding, countable) Ellipsis of oral steroid..

• aural

• “oral”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “oral”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

• oral in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• oral in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

• -arol, Arlo, LoRa, Loar, Lora, Orla

From Dutch overal, from Middle Dutch overal, from Old Dutch overal.

oral

1. everywhere

• orals
• oralste, oralster (nonstandard)

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /oˈɾal/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /uˈɾal/

oral (masculine and feminine plural orals)

1. oral

• oralitat
• oralment

• “oral” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “oral”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “oral” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “oral” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• IPA^(key): [ˈoral]

oral

1. masculine singular past participle of orat

Borrowed from Latin ōrālis, from ōs (“mouth”).

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.ʁal/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophones: orale, orales

oral (feminine orale, masculine plural oraux, feminine plural orales)

1. oral

• sexe oral
• stade oral

oral m (plural oraux)

1. an oral exam, a viva, a viva voce

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

From Latin os, oris (“mouth”) + -al.

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

oral (strong nominative masculine singular oraler, not comparable)

1. (relational) mouth; oral

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

oral (not comparable)

1. oral (pertaining to the mouth)

Learned borrowing from Latin ōrālis.

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

oral m or f (plural orais)

1. oral

• oralidade
• oralmente

oral f (plural orais)

1. an oral exam

From French oral.

oral m or n (feminine singular orală, masculine plural orali, feminine and neuter plural orale)

1. oral

oral m (Cyrillic spelling орал)

1. Obsolete spelling of orao

From Latin os, oris (“mouth”) + -al.

• IPA^(key): /oˈɾal/ [oˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: o‧ral

oral (plural orales)

1. oral

• “oral”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014