# gal

| ㏿ | U+33FF, &#13311; SQUARE GAL |
| ← ㏾ [U+33FE] | CJK Compatibility | 㐀 → [U+3400] |

## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡæl/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -æl

### Etymology 1

From gallon.

#### Noun

gal (plural gal or gals)
* Abbreviation of gallon.

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Jamaican Creole gyal (“girl”), from English girl.

#### Noun

gal (plural gals)
* (colloquial) A young woman.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:girl
    Coordinate term: guy

##### Derived terms

* attagal
* best gal
* cowgal
* fangal
* Galentine's Day
* galfriend
* gally
* galpal, gal pal
* transgal
* wastegal
* wise gal

##### Related terms

* galge
* kogal

##### Descendants

* → Icelandic: gella
* → Japanese: ギャル (gyaru)
** → English: gyaru

### Etymology 3

Shortened from galileo.

#### Noun

gal (plural gals, symbol Gal)
* A galileo (unit of acceleration).

##### Derived terms

* milligal

### See also

* gal-iron
* X-gal

### Anagrams

* AGL, ALG, Alg., GLA, LAG, LGA, lag

## Afrikaans
### Etymology

From Dutch gal. Cognate to English gall.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

gal (uncountable)
* The bodily fluid bile

## Bouyei
### Etymology

From Proto-Tai *p.qaːᴬ (“leg”). Cognate with Thai ขา (kǎa), Northern Thai ᨡᩣ, Lao ຂາ (khā), Lü ᦃᦱ (ẋaa), Shan ၶႃ (khǎa), Tai Nüa ᥑᥣᥴ (xáa), Ahom 𑜁𑜡 (khā), Zhuang ga.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ka˨˦/

### Noun

gal
* (anatomy) leg; foot

## Catalan
### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈɡal]
* Rhymes: -al

### Adjective

gal (feminine gal·la, masculine plural gals, feminine plural gal·les)
* Gaulish, Gallic (of or pertaining to Gaul)
    Synonym: gàl·lic

### Noun

gal m (plural gals, feminine gal·la)
* Gaul (a person from Gaul)

### Noun

gal m (uncountable)
* Gaulish (Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul)
    Synonym: gàl·lic

#### Related terms

* gal·li
* Gàl·lia

### Further reading

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

## Chinese
### Etymology

Short for galgame, borrowed from Japanese ギャルゲーム (gyaru gēmu), which is wasei eigo (和製英語; pseudo-anglicism), derived from gal +‎ game.

### Noun

gal
* (ACG, video games) galge (video or computer game centered around interactions with attractive anime-style girls)
    推gal ― tuī gal ― to play galge

## Danish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡaːˀl/, [ˈɡ̊æˀl]

### Etymology 1

From Old Danish galæn, from Old Norse galinn (“enchanted, mad”), a past participle of gala (“to sing, chant”) (Danish gale (“to crow”)).

#### Adjective

gal (neuter galt, plural and definite singular attributive gale)
* crazy, mad, insane (mentally ill)
* mad, angry (showing temper)
* wrong (not the right one)
* bad

#### References

* “gale,2” in Den Danske Ordbog

### Etymology 2

From Old Norse gal (“shouting”), derived from the verb gala (“to sing, chant”) (Danish gale (“to crow”)).

#### Noun

gal n (singular definite galet, plural indefinite gal)
* crow (the sound of a cock)

##### Declension
#### References

* “gale,1” in Den Danske Ordbog

### Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

gal
* imperative of gale

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɣɑl/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: gal
* Rhymes: -ɑl

### Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch galle, from Old Dutch galla, from Proto-Germanic *gallō.

#### Noun

gal f (uncountable)
* bile, gall (yellow-green bodily fluid secreted by the liver)
* bile, anger, wrath

##### Derived terms

* galblaas
* galsteen
* vergallen
* zwartgallig

##### Descendants

* Afrikaans: gal
* Berbice Creole Dutch: gali
* Negerhollands: gal
* → Papiamentu: hal, gal

### Etymology 2

Ultimately from Latin galla. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

#### Noun

gal f (plural gallen, diminutive galletje n)
* a gall (abnormal growth on a plant caused by foreign organisms)

##### Derived terms

* galappel
* galnoot
* galwesp

### Further reading

* gal on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia $^{nl}$

### Anagrams

* alg, lag

## Emilian
### Etymology

From Latin gallus.

### Noun

gal m
* cock

## French
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

gal m (plural gals)
* a unit of acceleration equal to one centimetre per second per second

## Hamer-Banna
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡál/, [ɡál̥]

### Noun

gal
* enemy
    koró róshon gállo tê, koró gal wánanethese aren't the 'sling' enemies, these are diffferent enemies
* Amhara (a member of a Semitic people of Ethiopia)

#### Usage notes

In the sense of "Amhara," preceded by háilesellási (“Haile Selassie”), referring to the former emperor of Ethiopia:
    háilesellási gállo báakorra mɛ́ɛ gɛ́labanshetthe Amhara are running down from Baako to Dhaasanac(literally, “the 'Haile Selassie' enemies are running and going from Baako to Dhaasanac”)

### References

* Petrollino, Sara (2016) A Grammar of Hamar: A South Omotic language of Ethiopia‎, Leiden University, pages 231, 259, 303

## Icelandic
### Etymology

From gala (“to crow”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kaːl/
* Rhymes: -aːl

### Noun

gal n (genitive singular gals, no plural)
* crowing (of a rooster)
* yelling

#### Declension
## Irish
### Etymology

From Old Irish gal, from Proto-Celtic *galā (“ability”) (compare Welsh gallu (“be able”)).

### Pronunciation

* (Munster, Aran) IPA: /ɡɑl̪ˠ/
* (Cois Fharraige, Mayo, Ulster) IPA: /ɡalˠ/, /ɡal̪ˠ/

### Noun

gal f or m (genitive singular gaile, nominative plural gala)
* warlike ardor
* valor, fury
* vapor, steam
* boiling heat
* puff, whiff (of smoke, hot air)
* fit, bout, turn
* demand

#### Declension

bare forms
singular
plural
nominative
gal
gala
vocative
a ghal
a ghala
genitive
gaile
gal
dative
gal
gala
forms with the definite article
singular
plural
nominative
an ghal
na gala
genitive
na gaile
na ngal
dative
leis an ngal don ghal
leis na gala :

#### Derived terms

* láth gaile
* tuirbín gaile (“steam turbine”)

### Noun

gal m (genitive singular gail, nominative plural gala)
* blusterer
    Synonyms: bliústar, bolscaire, galach

#### Declension

bare forms
singular
plural
nominative
gal
g~a
vocative
a ghail
a ghala
genitive
gail
gal
dative
gal
g~a
forms with the definite article
singular
plural
nominative
an gal
na g~a
genitive
an ghail
na ngal
dative
leis an ngal don ghal
leis na g~a :

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### Further reading

* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “gal”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 gal”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “gal”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
* “gal”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025
* Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 65

## Lithuanian
### Etymology

A shortening derived from "gali (“it may”) būti (“be”)".

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ɡaːl]

### Conjunction

gál
* maybe, perhaps
    Synonym: galbūt

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* gol

### Etymology

From Old English gāl (“lustful, wanton”), from Proto-West Germanic *gail, from Proto-Germanic *gailaz.

### Adjective

gal (Early Middle English)
* lascivious, lustful
** c. 1225, “Oðer dale: fif ƿittes”, in Ancrene Ƿiſſe (MS. Corpus Christi 402)‎, Herefordshire, published c. 1235, folio 15, verso; republished at Cambridge: Parker Library on the Web, 2018 January:naƿt ane euch fleſchlich hondlunge: ah ȝetten euch gal ƿoꝛd: iſ ladlich vilainie […]Not just each amorous caress, but even each lustful word is revolting depravity […]
** Sweche pinen he þolien schal þat her wes of his fles ful gal And wolde louien his fleses wil. — Eleven Pains of Hell, 1300
* overly fond of
    Gripes freteþ hoere mawen And hoere inward everuidel, Ne be þe þarof no so gal, Eft hoe werpeþ al in al. — Eleven Pains of Hell, 1300

#### Derived terms

* galich, gollich (“lustful, lascivious”)
* galnesse, golnesse (“lustfulness, lasciviousness”)

#### References

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

## Nalca
### Noun

gal
* tree

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology 1

From Old Norse galinn, from gala (“sing bewitching songs, in actuality bewitched by magical singing”).

#### Adjective

gal (neuter singular galt, definite singular and plural gale, comparative galere, indefinite superlative galest, definite superlative galeste)
* insane; crazy; out of one's mind; mad
* incorrect; erroneous; wrong; illegal; morally reproachable

##### Derived terms

* galehus
* galskap
* (insane; crazy): stormannsgal
* (with a very strong interest in): bilgal, fartsgal, guttegal, jentegal, sexgal
* (phrases): bære galt av sted, det er aldri så galt at det ikke er godt for noe, gå galt, riv ruskende gal, vill og gal

### Etymology 2

Related to the verb gale.

#### Noun

gal n (definite singular galet, indefinite plural gal, definite plural gala or galene)
* crow ((instance of) rooster's crowing)

##### Derived terms

* hanegal

##### Related terms

* nattergal

### Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

gal
* imperative of gale

### References

* “gal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

### Anagrams

* lag, gla

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology 1

From gala (“to howl”).

#### Noun

gal n (definite singular galet, indefinite plural gal, definite plural gala)
* a crow, howl, scream

##### Related terms

* galing f

### Etymology 2

Abbreviation.

#### Proper noun

gal (upper case Gal)
* Abbreviation of galatarbrevet.

### Etymology 3

Possibly from English. An abbreviation.

#### Symbol

gal
* symbol used to represent a gallon

### Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

gal
* imperative of gala

#### References

* “gal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

### Etymology 5
#### Adjective

gal (masculine and feminine gal, neuter galt, definite singular and plural gale, comparative galare, indefinite superlative galast, definite superlative galaste)
* (nonstandard) galen

### Etymology 6
#### Noun

gal m
* (eye dialect spelling, Trøndelag dialect, Eastern Norway) Alternative spelling of gard (“farm”)

### Anagrams

* Gal, gla, lag

## Occitan
### Etymology

From Latin gallus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (East Vivaro-Alpine) [ˈdʒal]
* IPA: (Provençal) [ˈɡau̯]
* IPA: (East Languedocien) [ˈɡal]
* IPA: (West Languedocien) [ˈɡal]
* Audio (West Languedoc):(file)

### Noun

gal m (plural gals)
* A cock, rooster

#### Related terms

* galhar
* galina

### References

* Müller, Daniela. 2011. Developments of the lateral in Occitan dialects and their Romance and cross-linguistic context. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Toulouse.
* ↑ Müller 2011: 43. Likewise for the other three pronunciations.

## Old English
### Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *gail.
Cognate with Old Saxon gēl, Dutch geil (“salacious, lustful”), Old High German geil (German geil (“lustful”)), Old Norse geiligr (“beautiful”). The Indo-European root may also be the source of Lithuanian gailùs (“sharp, biting”), Russian зело́ (zeló, “very”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡɑːl/

### Adjective

gāl (comparative gālra, superlative gālost)
* wanton, lustful; wicked
** And se Iouis wearð swa swyðe gal þæt he on his agenre swyster gewifode.And Jove became so depraved that he married his own sister.(Wulfstan, De Falsis Deis)

#### Descendants

* Middle English: gal, gol
** English: gole (dialectal)

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* jal

### Etymology

Uncertain. Perhaps from Transalpine Gaulish *gallos.

### Noun

gal oblique singular, m (oblique plural gaus or gax or gals, nominative singular gaus or gax or gals, nominative plural gal)
* a rock

#### Derived terms

* galeit
** French: galet, galette
** Norman: galet, galette, galiche, galot

#### References

* “galet”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
* Nouveau Petit Larousse illustré. Dictionnaire encyclopédique. Paris, Librairie Larousse, 1952, 146th edition

## Old Irish
### Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *galā.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡal/

### Noun

gal f (genitive gaile)
* ardor
* fury
* valor
** c. 760 Blathmac mac Con Brettan, published in "A study of the lexicon of the poems of Blathmac Son of Cú Brettan" (2017; PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth), edited and with translations by Siobhán Barrett, stanza 130
    Co rígaib ránaib cét ngal   co láthib do·ruíchetar.With the noble kings of a hundred feats of valour,   they have taken revenge with warriors.

#### Inflection

* $^H$ = triggers aspiration
* $^L$ = triggers lenition
* $^N$ = triggers nasalization

#### Derived terms

* congal
* ecal
* esgal
* fingal
Many derivatives of gal serve as verbal nouns to compounds of fichid (“to fight”).
* dígal
* fogal
* imdegal
* irgal
* togal
Gal is also a common as the second element of male given names in Old Irish. Despite all these given names being male, they inherit gal's feminine ā-stem declension.
* Áedgal
* Ailgal
* Artgal
* Bodbgal
* Congal
* Cuithgal
* Donngal
* Dúngal
* Échtgal
* Éitgal
* Fergal
* Fidgal
* Gormgal
* Lergal
* Móengal
* Murgal
* Nárgal
* Rudgal
* Sóergal
* Tnúthgal
* Úargal

#### Descendants

* Middle Irish: gal
** Irish: gal
** Scottish Gaelic: gal

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### Further reading

* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “gal”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

## Old Norse
### Verb

gal
* second-person singular present active imperative of gala

## Polish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɡal/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: gal
* Homophone: Gal

### Etymology 1

From Latin.

#### Noun

gal m inan
* gallium

##### Declension
### Etymology 2

Named in honour of Galileo Galilei

#### Noun

gal m inan
* A galileo

##### Declension
### Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Noun

gal
* genitive plural of gala

### Further reading

* gal in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* gal in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Rohingya
### Alternative forms

* 𐴒𐴝𐴓𐴢 (gal) — Hanifi Rohingya script

### Noun

gal (Hanifi spelling 𐴒𐴝𐴓𐴢)
* mouth

## Romagnol
### Etymology

From Latin găllum (“rooster”), accusative of Latin gallus (“rooster”).

### Pronunciation

   * (Central Romagnol): IPA: [ˈɡaɐ̯l]
      * (Ville Unite):

### Noun

gal m (plural ghël)
* rooster (male domestic fowl)
    September 2012, Loris Pasini, E’ gal in la Ludla, il Papiro, page 15: E’ gal.The rooster.

### References

* Masotti, Adelmo (1996) Vocabolario Romagnolo Italiano [Romagnol-Italian dictionary] (in Italian), Bologna: Zanichelli, page 246

## Romanian
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin Gallus.

#### Noun

gal m (plural gali)
* a Gaul

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from French gal.

#### Noun

gal m (plural gali)
* (physics) unit of measurement of acceleration, equal to 1 centimeter per second squared

### See also

* gâl

## Scottish Gaelic
### Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡ̊al̪ˠ/
* (Skye) IPA: /ɡ̊ul̪ˠ/

#### Noun

gal m (genitive singular gail, plural gail)
* verbal noun of gail (“cry, weep”)
* (act of) crying, wailing
* wail

### Etymology 2

From Old Irish gal (“warlike ardour, fury, valour”).

#### Noun

gal m (genitive singular gail, plural gail)
* burst of light/heat
* ardour
* valour
* fury
* vapour, steam

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### References

* ↑ Oftedal, M. (1956) A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. III: The Gaelic of Leurbost, Isle of Lewis, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
* ↑ Rev. C. M. Robertson (1902) “Skye Gaelic”, in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, Volume XXIII: 1898-99‎, Gaelic Society of Inverness, pages 54-88

### Further reading

* Edward Dwelly (1911) “gal”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 gal”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

## Serbo-Croatian
### Alternative forms

* gȃo

### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *galъ.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡâːl/
* Hyphenation: gal

### Adjective

gȃl (Cyrillic spelling га̑л)
* (dated) black, dark (physical attributes)
* (dated) dark fur

#### Synonyms

* cȓn
* mȑk

#### Derived terms

* gàljan

#### Related terms

* gȁlica

## Somali
### Verb

gal
* enter
    musqusha gal ― enter the toilet

## Sumerian
### Romanization

gal
* Romanization of 𒃲 (gal)

## Swedish
### Verb

gal
* inflection of gala:
** present indicative
** imperative

### Anagrams

* alg, lag

## Welsh
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡal/

### Noun

gal
* Soft mutation of cal.

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

## Zou
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡal˧/

### Noun

gal
* war

### References

* Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 44