Paul
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /pɔːl/
ipa: /pɔl/
ipa: /pɑl/
rhymes: -ɔːl
homophone: pall
homophone: pawl
Etymology: From Latin Paulus, from paulus (“small”). Doublet of Pablo and Paolo.
Senses: examples: text: Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 13:9:
glosses: In the New Testament, Saul, Apostle to the Gentiles and author of fourteen epistles.
examples: text: 'He will be christened Paul, my - Mrs Dombey - of course.'
She feebly echoed, 'Of course,' or rather expressed it by the motion of her lips, and closed her eyes again.
'His father's name, Mrs Dombey, and his grandfather's! I wish his grandfather were alive this day! There is some inconvenience in the necessity of writing Junior,' said Mr Dombey, making a fictitious autograph on his knee; 'but it is merely of a private and personal complexion. It doesn't enter into the correspondence of the House. Its signature remains the same.'
ref: 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Dombey and Son: Chapter 1”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:
text: Primarily seen as a publicity vehicle for late-year releases, the awards show and its promoters have lately made pretensions to Oscar oracling: Jamie Foxx won the “breakthrough actor of the year” prize for “Ray” in 2004, after all, and Paul Haggis and his ensemble cast were honored for “Crash” four months before it won best picture.
ref: 2006 October 18, David M. Halbfinger, “Hollywood Film Chain’s Latest Link”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 21 Jun 2025:
text: Toyota spokesman Paul Hogard said the automaker wants speedometers to be easy to read, so there’s value in placing the typical operating speed of American cars, 45 mph to 70 mph, he said, at the top of the speedometer, which is the easiest place on the speedometer for the driver to read.
ref: 2022 September 10, Matt McFarland, “Why your car’s speedometer goes up to 160 mph (even when your car can’t)”, in CNN Business:
glosses: A male given name from Latin of biblical origin.
examples: text: In a Fox Business interview on Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) alluded to the distinction between private and government responses to offensive speech, but his comments were ambiguous enough that an uncharitable viewer could easily interpret them as approval of the latter.
ref: 2025 September 16, Jacob Sullum, “Brendan Carr and Ted Cruz Don't Think Charlie Kirk's Murder Justifies Speech Restrictions”, in Reason:
glosses: A surname originating as a patronymic.
glosses: A place name:
An unincorporated community in Conecuh County, Alabama, United States, named after Paul the Apostle.
glosses: A place name:
A city in Minidoka County, Idaho, United States.
glosses: A place name:
An unincorporated community in Otoe County, Nebraska, United States.
glosses: A place name:
A village south of Newlyn in Penzance parish, south-west Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SW4627). The civil parish of Paul (abolished 2021) did not include the village in latter years, and is now included in St Buryan, Lamorna and Paul.
glosses: A place name:
A municipality on Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
Derived terms: Paul Bert effect
Paul Blart
Paulian
Paulie
Paulism
Paulist
Paulite
paulscherrerite
Pauls Valley
Paultard
Paul Veronese green
rob Peter to pay Paul
Saint Paul Charlestown
Saint Paul
St. Paul
St Buryan, Lamorna and Paul
St Paul's Walden
Related terms: sense: feminine forms
word: Paula
sense: feminine forms
word: Paulette
sense: feminine forms
word: Paulina
sense: feminine forms
word: Pauline
word: surnames:
word: Fyall
word: Mackfall
word: MacPhail
word: McFall
word: McFaul
word: McPhail
word: Paule
word: Paulet
word: Pauley
word: Paulin
word: Pauling
word: Paull
word: Paulley
word: Paulson
word: Pauly
word: Paw
word: Pawle
word: Pawlett
word: Pawley
word: Pawling
word: Pawlyn
word: Pawson
word: Pole
word: Poles
word: Poll
word: Pollard
word: Pollins
word: Polson
word: Pool
word: Poole
word: Poulsom
word: Poulson
word: Powell
word: Powles
word: Powley
word: Powling
word: Quail
word: Quaile
word: Quayle