# sæl
## Danish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛːl/, [sɛːˀl]

### Etymology 1

From Old Norse selr (“seal”).

#### Noun

sæl c (singular definite sælen, plural indefinite sæler)
* seal (Phocidae)

##### Synonyms

* sælhund c

##### Derived terms

* Sjælland
* sælskind (sealskin)

#### See also

* søløve

### Etymology 2

From Norwegian sel

#### Noun

sæl n (singular definite sælet, plural indefinite sæl)
* (Norway) shed on a mountain pasture

##### Descendants

* Norwegian Bokmål: sel

## Icelandic
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sail̥/, [sai̯ːɬ]
* Rhymes: -aiːl

### Interjection

sæl
* hi, hello (to a female or a mixed male/female group)

#### See also

* sæll

### Anagrams

* læs

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From Old Norse sæll.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /seːl/, /sæːl/

### Adjective

sæl (neuter sælt, definite singular and plural sæle, comparative sælare, indefinite superlative sælast, definite superlative sælaste)
* happy, joyful
* satisfied
** 1866, Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Storegut, page 32:„D’er godt at faa,“ so sagde tidt han Fa’r, „ei unger Kone og ein gamal Gard. D’er lett med desse tvo at liva vel; og Skam faa den, som ei med det er sæl.““It’s good to have”, father often said, “a young wife and an old farm. With these two it is easy to live well; and shame on him who is not satisfied with that.”
* blessed

#### Related terms

* ussel
* usæl
* salig

### References

* “sæl” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Old English
### Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *sal, from Proto-Germanic *salą. Cognate with Old High German sal, German Saal (“hall, large room”), French salle (“room”), Old Saxon sal, Dutch zaal. Compare sele, from a Germanic variant stem.

#### Alternative forms

* sel

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sæl/

#### Noun

sæl n (nominative plural salu)
* room, great hall, (large) house, castle
** Wuna salu sinchroden.By custom, ornately decorated halls.

##### Declension

Strong a-stem:

##### Derived terms

* burgsæl (“city-hall, house”)
* folcsæl (“folk-hall”)
* hornsæl (“house with gables”)
* sælþ (“dwelling, house”)
* wīnsæl (“wine-hall”)

##### Related terms

* sele

##### Descendants

* Middle English: sal, sale, sall

### Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *sāli, from Proto-Germanic *sēliz.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sæːl/

#### Noun

sǣl m or f
* happiness, prosperity
* (proper) occasion, time; season, opportunity, condition, position
** Ðās wyrte man mæg niman on ǣlcne sǣl.This plant may be gathered at any time.(Lchdm. i. 112, 3.)

##### Declension
###### Masculine

Strong a-stem:

###### Feminine

Strong i-stem:

##### Derived terms

* sǣlan (“to take place, happen; to tie, bind, fetter, fasten: curb, restrain, confine”)
* sǣlig (“happy, prosperous”)
* sǣlige (“happily”)
* sǣliglic (“happy, blessed, fortunate”)
* sǣliglīce (“happily, blessedly, fortunately”)
* sǣlignes (“happiness”)
* sǣlþ, sȳlþ (“happiness, prosperity, blessing”)
* sǣlwang (“fertile plain”)

##### Descendants

* Middle English: sele, cele, seel, sel
** English: sele, seel
** Scots: seil

#### References

* John R. Clark Hall (1916) “sæl”, in A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, New York: Macmillan
* Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “sæl”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.