# leal
## 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: /liːl/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːl

### Adjective

leal (comparative lealer, superlative lealest) (now chiefly Scotland)
* 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.
* 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)
* 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)
* loyal
* honest

#### Synonyms

* (loyal): fedel

#### Related terms

* lege

## Old French
### Adjective

leal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular leal)
* Alternative form of loial

#### Declension
## Portuguese
### Alternative forms

* leial (obsolete spelling)

### Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese leal, from Latin legālis. Doublet of legal, borrowed from the same source.
Compare Spanish leal, Catalan lleial, French loyal.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /leˈaw/ [leˈaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈljal/ [ˈljaɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈljal/ [ˈljaɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /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)
* 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. Doublet of legal.

### Adjective

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

#### Declension
## Scots
### Etymology

From Middle English leel, lel, borrowed from Anglo-Norman leal and Old French leial, from Latin lēgālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /lil/

### Adjective

leal (comparative mair leal, superlative maist leal)
* loyal
* true, pure

## Spanish
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /leˈal/ [leˈal]
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: le‧al

### Adjective

leal m or f (masculine and feminine plural leales)
* 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 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10