# cel
## Translingual
### Symbol

cel
* (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-5 language code for Celtic languages.

## English
### Alternative forms

* cell

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛl/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Homophones: cell, sell
* Rhymes: -ɛl

### Etymology 1

Clipping of celluloid.

#### Noun

cel (plural cels)
* A piece of celluloid on which has been drawn a frame of an animated film.
** 2008 June 22, Michael Hirschorn, “Success Story 2”, in New York Times‎:After Jobs’s $5 million offer was rejected, the team attempted to do a deal with Disney, then a bastion of hand-painted cel animation.

##### Derived terms

* cel-shaded
* cel shading

### Etymology 2

Clipping of celibate.

#### Noun

cel (plural cels)
* clipping of celibate.

##### Synonyms

* celibate
* truecel/trucel

##### Derived terms

* heightcel
* hicel
* incel
* marcel
* nearcel
* noncel
* truecel
* volcel

### Anagrams

* CLE, ECL, LCE, LEC

## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin caelum, from Proto-Italic *kailom, from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂i-lom (“whole”), from *keh₂i-. Compare Occitan cèl.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈsɛl]
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

cel m (plural cels)
* sky
* heaven

#### Derived terms

* arc del cel
* celobert
* gratacel

#### Related terms

* celeste

### Further reading

* “cel” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “cel”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “cel” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “cel” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Crimean Tatar
### Noun

cel
* (Northern dialect) gale, wind

#### Usage notes

* Literary form: yel

#### Declension
## Czech
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈt͡sɛl]

### Noun

cel f
* genitive plural of cela

### Noun

cel n
* genitive plural of clo

### Verb

cel
* second-person singular imperative of celit

## Dutch
### Etymology

From Middle Dutch celle, from Latin cella.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛl/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: cel
* Rhymes: -ɛl

### Noun

cel f (plural cellen, diminutive celletje n)
* cell (a compartment)
** component of a battery
** (biology) component of a body tissue
** (architecture) a small room, such as a prison or cloister cell
** (entomology) cell – of a honeycomb
** (computer science) cell – of a table

#### Synonyms

* (prison cell): gevangeniscel
* (cloister cell): kloostercel

#### Derived terms

* bloedcel
* brandstofcel
* celdeling
* celkern
* cellenbeton
* celmaat
* celmembraan
* celsplitsing
* celwand
* eicel
* gevangeniscel
* hersencel
* kloostercel
* knoopcel
* telefooncel
* terreurcel
* zaadcel
* zenuwcel

#### Descendants

* Afrikaans: sel
* → Indonesian: sel
* → Papiamentu: sèl

## Latvian
### Verb

cel
* inflection of celt:
** second-person singular present indicative
** second-person singular imperative

## Lombard
### Etymology

From Latin caelum.

### Noun

cel m
* (Old Lombard) sky
* (Old Lombard) heaven

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* cil, chil, chel

### Etymology

From an earlier cil, from Vulgar Latin *ecce ille, a compound of Latin ecce and ille. Largely replaced cist used in earlier Old French.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (unstressed) /t͡səl/
* IPA: (stressed) /ˈt͡sɛl/

### Adjective

cel m (oblique and nominative feminine singular cele)
* this (the one in question)

#### Synonyms

* cist (chiefly 12th and 13th centuries)

#### Descendants

* Middle French: cel
** French: ce
** Lorrain: ceil

## Old Occitan
### Etymology

From Latin caelum.

### Noun

cel m
* Heaven

#### Descendants

* Occitan: cèl, ciau, ciel, cèu

## Old Polish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Old Czech cíl. First attested in the fifteenth century.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (10th–15th CE) /t͡sɛːlʲ/
* IPA: (15th CE) /t͡selʲ/

### Noun

cel m animacy unattested
* target (butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile)
** 1930 [c. 1455], “I Reg”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎, 20, 20:A ia trsy strzali wipusczø podle gego y wistrzelyø, iako bich zwikal strzelyacz ku celu (quasi exercens me ad signum)[A ja trzy strzały wypuszczę podle jego i wystrzelę, jako bych zwykał strzelać ku celu (quasi exercens me ad signum)]

#### Derived terms

* cylować impf

#### Descendants

* Polish: cel, cyl, czel (Middle Polish)
** → Belarusian: цэль (celʹ)
** → Esperanto: celo
** → Kashubian: cél
** → Slovincian: cél
** → Russian: цель (celʹ)
** → Ukrainian: ціль (cilʹ)
* Silesian: cyl

### References

* ↑ Stanisław Dubisz, editor (2003), “cel”, in Uniwersalny słownik języka polskiego [Universal dictionary of the Polish language]‎ (in Polish), volumes 1-4, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN SA, →ISBN
* ↑ Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “cel”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
   * Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “cel”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
   * B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “cel”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

## Polish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈt͡sɛl/
* (Middle Polish) IPA: /ˈt͡sel/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛl
* Syllabification: cel

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Polish cel. Compare German Ziel.

#### Noun

cel m inan
* goal, aim, objective, target (that which one attempts to achieve)
* target (butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile)
* target, aim (person or object that is the focus of one's actions)
* goal, aim, objective; destination (place where one would like to go)
* (archaic, firearms) foresight (front sight of a rifle)
    Synonym: muszka
* (Middle Polish) end point, borderline
* (Middle Polish) deadline
    Synonym: termin
* (Middle Polish) racetrack; stadium
* (Middle Polish) measuring instrument for determining the direction of a straight line (Is there an English equivalent to this definition?)
* (Middle Polish) respect
    Synonyms: poważanie, szacunek
* (Middle Polish) abyss
    Synonym: przepaść

##### Alternative forms

* cyl, czel (Middle Polish)

##### Derived terms

* celowy
* cel! pal!
* celownik
* celować impf, wycelować pf
* minąć się z celem pf, mijać się z celem impf
* wziąć na cel pf, brać na cel impf

##### Related terms

* bezcelowy
* celownikowy
* celowościowy
* bezcelowo
* celownikowo
* celowo
* bezcelowość
* celowość

##### Descendants

* → Belarusian: цэль (celʹ)
* → Esperanto: celo
* → Kashubian: cél
* → Slovincian: cél
* → Russian: цель (celʹ)
* → Ukrainian: ціль (cilʹ)

### Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), cel is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 79 times in scientific texts, 69 times in news, 85 times in essays, 15 times in fiction, and 18 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 266 times, making it the 190th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

### References

* ↑ Ida Kurcz (1990) “cel”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), volume 1, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 42

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Noun

cel f
* genitive plural of cela

### Further reading

* cel in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* cel in Polish dictionaries at PWN
* Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “cel”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
* Krystyna Siekierska (22.01.2019) “CEL”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]
* Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “cel”, in Słownik języka polskiego
* Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “cel”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
* J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “cel”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 259

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Clipping of celular.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈsɛw/ [ˈsɛʊ̯]

### Noun

cel m (plural cels)
* (Brazil, Internet slang) mobile phone
    Synonym: celular

## Romanian
### Alternative forms

* чел (cel) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

### Etymology

From acel.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [tʃel]

### Determiner

cel m or n (feminine singular cea, masculine plural cei, feminine and neuter plural cele)
* (popular) that
    Synonyms: acel, acela, ăl, ăla

#### Declension
### Article

cel m or n (feminine singular cea, masculine plural cei, feminine and neuter plural cele)
* the

#### Declension
### Pronoun

cel m or n (feminine singular cea, masculine plural cei, feminine and neuter plural cele)
* the one (that is)
    Cel bogat face cum vrea, cel sărac face cum poate.The rich one does as he pleases, the poor one does as he can.

#### Derived terms

* celălalt

## Slovene
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /t͡séːʋ/

### Adjective

cẹ̑ł (not comparable)
* whole

#### Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

### Further reading

* “cel”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

## Spanish
### Etymology

Clipping of celular.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Spain) /ˈθel/ [ˈθel]
* IPA: (Latin America, Philippines) /ˈsel/ [ˈsel]
* Rhymes: -el
* Syllabification: cel

### Noun

cel m (plural celes)
* (Latin America, US, Philippines) cell phone, mobile phone
    Synonym: celular
** 2024, “LFO (Lupe Finds Oliveros)”, in Phasor, performed by Helado Negro:Dedo congelado en mi cel / Foto selfie otra vez / Y ya se fue el sol(please add an English translation of this quotation)

## Volapük
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [tʃel]

### Noun

cel (nominative plural cels)
* cherry

#### Declension

$^1$ status as a case is disputed $^2$ in later, non-classical Volapük only