# bestial
## English
### Etymology 1

From Middle English bestial, from Old French bestial, from Late Latin bēstiālis, from Latin bēstia (“beast”) (whence English beast).

#### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈbɛs.ti.əl/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ˈbɛs.t͡ʃəl/, /ˈbis.t͡ʃəl/

#### Adjective

bestial (comparative more bestial, superlative most bestial)
* (literally and figuratively) Beast-like
** c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.
** 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 753-4:By thee adulterous lust was driven from men / Among the bestial herds to range […]
** 1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:This familiar that I called out of my own soul, and sent forth alone to do his good pleasure, was a being inherently malign and villainous; his every act and thought centered on self; drinking pleasure with bestial avidity from any degree of torture to another; relentless like a man of stone.
** 1900 April, Willa Cather, “Eric Hermannson's Soul”, in Cosmopolitan:His was a bestial face, a face that bore the stamp of Nature's eternal injustice.
** 2022 December 31, Matteo Wong, “Hollywood’s Love Affair With Fictional Languages”, in The Atlantic:The Game of Thrones novels were best sellers without fleshed-out Dothraki; the languages in Star Wars, one of the most successful franchises ever, are mostly gibberish, even if Han Solo claims to understand Chewbacca’s bestial warbling.

##### Synonyms

* beastly
* animalian

##### Hypernyms

* faunal

##### Derived terms

* bestialism
* bestialist
* bestiality
* bestialization
* bestialize
* bestialness
* unbestial

##### Related terms

* beast
* bestiary

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From Middle Scots bestiall, from Middle English bestaile, from Old French bestaille, from Late Latin bēstiālia; later reinforced and remodelled on Middle French bestial, itself from Late Latin bēstiālis.

#### Noun

bestial pl (plural only)
* (Scotland, obsolete) Cattle.
** 1845, The New Statistical Account of Scotland: Forfar, Kincardine, page 94:[…] much must depend upon the way in which bestial are bought or reared, and the state of the markets when they are sold.

### Anagrams

* Stabile, ableist, albites, astilbe, bastile, libates, stabile

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin bēstiālis, from Latin bēstia (“beast”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bɛs.tjal/
* Audio:(file)
* Homophones: bestiale, bestiales

### Adjective

bestial (feminine bestiale, masculine plural bestiaux, feminine plural bestiales)
* bestial

#### Related terms

* bête

### Further reading

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

### Anagrams

* baliste, établis

## Galician
### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin bēstiālis, from Latin bēstia (“beast”).

### Adjective

bestial m or f (plural bestiais)
* beastly
* massive, huge, giant
* tremendous, fantastic, awesome

#### Related terms

* bestia
* bestialidade

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* beestial, beestyal, bestiall, bestialle, bestyal, bestyall

### Etymology

From Old French bestial, from Late Latin bēstiālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bɛstiˈaːl/, /ˈbɛstial/, /ˈbɛːstial/

### Adjective

bestial
* animal (of or pertaining to animals)
* physical; non-spiritual (of faculties, knowledge, etc.)
* beastly, depraved (lacking human sensibility)
* stupid, unlearned

#### Synonyms

* beestly (all senses)

#### Derived terms

* bestially

#### Descendants

* English: bestial

#### References

* “bē̆stiā̆l(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

## Old French
### Etymology

First known attestation circa 1190, borrowed from Latin bēstiālis.

### Adjective

bestial m (oblique and nominative feminine singular bestiale)
* bestial (of or relating to a beast)

#### Related terms

* beste

#### Descendants

* English: bestial
* French: bestial

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin bēstiālis, from Latin bēstia (“beast”).

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /bes.t͡ʃiˈaw/ [bes.t͡ʃɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /besˈt͡ʃjaw/ [besˈt͡ʃjaʊ̯]
* (Brazil) IPA: /bes.t͡ʃiˈaw/ [bes.t͡ʃɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /besˈt͡ʃjaw/ [besˈt͡ʃjaʊ̯]
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /beʃ.t͡ʃiˈaw/ [beʃ.t͡ʃɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /beʃˈt͡ʃjaw/ [beʃˈt͡ʃjaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /bɨʃˈtjal/ [bɨʃˈtjaɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /bɨʃˈtjal/ [bɨʃˈtjaɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /bɨʃˈtja.li/
* Rhymes: -al, -aw
* Hyphenation: bes‧ti‧al

### Adjective

bestial m or f (plural bestiais)
* bestial; brutish
* beastly
* (informal) cool

#### Related terms

* besta
* bestalidade

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French bestial, Late Latin bēstiālis, from Latin bēstia (“beast”). By surface analysis, bestie +‎ -al.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [bes.tiˈal]

### Adjective

bestial m or n (feminine singular bestială, masculine plural bestiali, feminine and neuter plural bestiale)
* bestial, animal
* (informal) cool

#### Usage notes

As indicated by the informal meaning of "cool", this word does not have the same negative connotations as in English.

#### Synonyms

* animalic
* feroce
* fioros
* sălbatic

#### Related terms

* bestialitate
* bestie

## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin bēstiālis, from Latin bēstia (“beast”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /besˈtjal/ [besˈt̪jal]
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: bes‧tial

### Adjective

bestial m or f (masculine and feminine plural bestiales)
* beastly
* massive, huge, giant
* tremendous, fantastic, awesome

#### Derived terms

* bestialmente

#### Related terms

* bestia
* bestialidad

### Further reading

* “bestial”, 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