pal

See also: Appendix:Variations of "pal"

Languages (29)

Translingual • English

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Angloromani • Arem • Asturian • Azerbaijani • Cahuilla • Catalan • Cornish • Cupeño • Cypriot Arabic • Czech • Dutch • French • Garo • Indonesian • Lower Sorbian • Mizo • Northern Kurdish • Occitan • Old English • Old Frisian • Pipil • Polish • Romanian • Southwestern Dinka • Spanish • Tolai • Volapük

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Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

pal

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Middle Persian.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Middle Persian terms

English

Etymology 1

PIE word
*bʰréh₂tēr

Borrowed from Angloromani pal (“brother, friend”), from Romani phral (“brother”), from Sanskrit भ्रातृ (bhrātṛ, “brother”). Doublet of bhai, brother, bru, frater, friar, and vai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pæl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æl
• Homophone: pow (some accents)

Noun

pal (plural pals)

1. (colloquial) A friend, buddy, mate, cobber; someone to hang around with.

   Little Timmy's out playing with his pals.

   • 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 233:

     "Mob job. The Mafia has a sample of the drug for the first time, thanks to me and my pal Ng. Until now, it always self-destructed before they could get to it. So I guess they're analyzing it or something. Trying to make an antidote, maybe."

2. (colloquial) An informal term of address, often used ironically in a hostile way.

   Don't you threaten me, pal – I'll report you to the police.

   • 2013, Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto V, scene: Threatening a security officer during a bank heist, level/area: Prologue:

     Michael De Santa (Ned Luke): You forget a thousand things every day, pal. Make sure this is one of 'em.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:friend

Derived terms

• anipal
• cyberpal
• e-pal
• galpal
• keypal
• pal around
• Palentine's Day
• palimony
• pally
• pals battalion
• palship
• palsy
• pal up
• PayPal
• pen pal
• sex pal

Descendants

• → Afrikaans: pêl

Translations

(colloquial) a friend

• Bulgarian: прия́тел (bg) m (prijátel)
• Esperanto: amiko (eo)
• Macedonian: при́јател (mk) m (príjatel)
• Plautdietsch: Schlockat m

Verb

pal (third-person singular simple present pals, present participle palling, simple past and past participle palled)

1. Synonym of pal around.
   • 2012 November 26, Evan Schlansky, “Song Premiere: Ife Sanchez Mora, Hopeful Heart”, in American Songwriter‎^[2]:

     As an adult, she moved to New York and palled with trip-hop artist Tricky, who signed her to his own label.

   • 2017 August 21, Kyle Swenson, “The rise and fall of Miami’s ‘CEO of Purple Drank’”, in The Washington Post‎^[3]:

     There were pictures of Garcia flashing diamond mouth grills. Spewing out a Vesuvius-amount of smoke. Showing off a riot of body tattoos. Aiming guns. Palling with superstars like Lil Wayne and Chris Brown. […]

   • 2020 January 30, Ryan Mac, “How Tesla CEO Elon Musk Won His "Pedo Guy" Trial”, in BuzzFeed News‎^[4]:

     In the trial, they showed photographs and videos of Unsworth being congratulated by the UK prime minister, palling with Thai government officials, and smiling while Prince William pinned him with an MBE, an appointment to the Order of the British Empire.

   • 2022 March 4, Graham Rayman, “Roger Stone said he never saw NYPD cop bodyguard with a gun or shield — video shows otherwise”, in New York Daily News‎^[5]:

     Greco also palled with Stone’s friend “Manhattan Madam” Kristin Davis, who was convicted of prostitution-related activities and selling prescription drugs.

Related terms

• palsy-walsy
• pal up

See also

• pal care

Etymology 2

Noun

pal (plural pals)

1. Alternative form of paul (“kind of tent”).

Anagrams

• ALP, APL, LPA, PLA, Pla, alp, lap

Angloromani

Alternative forms

• palla, pel, pral, prala, pralla, pulu

Etymology

Inherited from Romani phral. Cognate with English brother.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpʰæl], [pʰæɫ]

Noun

pal

1. brother

   Sa si pal te pen?

   How are your brother and sister?

2. friend

   Me lel boot pals.

   I have many friends.

Derived terms

• stiffa pal

Descendants

• → English: pal
  • → Afrikaans: pêl

References

• “pal”, in Angloromani Dictionary‎^[6], The Manchester Romani Project, 2004-2006, page 25
• “pal”, in Angloromani Dictionary‎^[7], The Manchester Romani Project, 2004-2006, page 59

Arem

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *pər, from Proto-Austroasiatic *par ~ *pər. Cognate with Vietnamese bay, Muong păl, Mon ပဝ် (pɔ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pal]

Verb

pal

1. to fly

Further reading

• Michel Ferlus, 2014, Arem, a Vietic Language, Mon-Khmer Studies 43.1-15, page 7

Asturian

Etymology

From a contraction of the preposition pa (“for”) + masculine singular article el (“the”).

Contraction

pal m

1. for the

Usage notes

Unlike Spanish pal, which is used colloquially and not a formal, standard contraction, in Asturian, this contraction is mandatory and part of standard language.

Azerbaijani

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).

Noun

pal (definite accusative palı, plural pallar)

1. the green husk of a young hazelnut

Declension

Declension of pal

	singular	plural
nominative	pal	pallar
definite accusative	palı	palları
dative	pala	pallara
locative	palda	pallarda
ablative	paldan	pallardan
definite genitive	palın	palların

Possessive forms of pal

	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	palım	pallarım
sənin (“your”)	palın	palların
onun (“his/her/its”)	palı	palları
bizim (“our”)	palımız	pallarımız
sizin (“your”)	palınız	pallarınız
onların (“their”)	palı or palları	palları
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	palımı	pallarımı
sənin (“your”)	palını	pallarını
onun (“his/her/its”)	palını	pallarını
bizim (“our”)	palımızı	pallarımızı
sizin (“your”)	palınızı	pallarınızı
onların (“their”)	palını or pallarını	pallarını
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	palıma	pallarıma
sənin (“your”)	palına	pallarına
onun (“his/her/its”)	palına	pallarına
bizim (“our”)	palımıza	pallarımıza
sizin (“your”)	palınıza	pallarınıza
onların (“their”)	palına or pallarına	pallarına
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	palımda	pallarımda
sənin (“your”)	palında	pallarında
onun (“his/her/its”)	palında	pallarında
bizim (“our”)	palımızda	pallarımızda
sizin (“your”)	palınızda	pallarınızda
onların (“their”)	palında or pallarında	pallarında
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	palımdan	pallarımdan
sənin (“your”)	palından	pallarından
onun (“his/her/its”)	palından	pallarından
bizim (“our”)	palımızdan	pallarımızdan
sizin (“your”)	palınızdan	pallarınızdan
onların (“their”)	palından or pallarından	pallarından
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	palımın	pallarımın
sənin (“your”)	palının	pallarının
onun (“his/her/its”)	palının	pallarının
bizim (“our”)	palımızın	pallarımızın
sizin (“your”)	palınızın	pallarınızın
onların (“their”)	palının or pallarının	pallarının

Further reading

• “pal” in Obastan.com.

Cahuilla

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Uto-Aztecan *pa

Proto-Takic *pa-l

Cahuilla pal

From Proto-Uto-Aztecan *pa.

Noun

pál

1. water

Derived terms

• tuhaymani'chi pal waniqa

References

• Katherine Siva Sauvel; Pamela Munro (1983), Chem'ivillu' (let's speak Cahuilla)

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan pal, from Latin pālus (“stake, pole”), from Proto-Italic *pākslos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-slos, from *peh₂ǵ-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈpal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al

Noun

pal m (plural pals)

1. stake
2. pole
3. (field hockey or ice hockey) stick

   Synonym: estic

4. (heraldry) pale
5. (colloquial) bore, drag

   és un pal ― he's a drag

Related terms

• empalar
• palet
• palissada
• pallissa

See also

• bastó

References

• “pal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “pal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “pal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “pal”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Cornish

Etymology

From Middle Cornish pal, from Proto-Brythonic *pal; either from Latin pala, or from Proto-Celtic *kʷalos ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- (“to turn”). Cognate with Breton pal and Welsh pâl. Related to palas (“to dig”) and palader (“drawbar”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paːl/

Noun

pal f (plural palyow)

1. spade

Derived terms

• pal ros (“waterboard”)
• pal-dalgarga (“loading shovel”)
• paler (“digger, excavator”)

Mutation

Mutation of pal

radical	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed
pal	bal	fal	unchanged	unchanged

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

Cupeño

Etymology

From Proto-Uto-Aztecan *pa. Cognate with Cahuilla pál, Luiseño paala, Tübatulabal bal, Northern Paiute paa, Comanche paa, Hopi paahu, Classical Nahuatl atl.

Noun

pál

1. water

References

• Jane H. Hill (2005), A Grammar of Cupeño

Cypriot Arabic

Etymology

Inherited from Arabic بَال (bāl).

Noun

pal m

1. (always with a pronominal suffix) mind, attention, memory

References

• Borg, Alexander (2004), A Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic (Arabic–English) (Handbook of Oriental Studies; I.70), Leiden and Boston: Brill, page 169

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpal]
• Rhymes: -al

Interjection

pal!

1. fire! (a signal to shoot)

Verb

pal

1. second-person singular imperative of pálit

Further reading

• “pal”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “pal”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle French pal, from Latin pālus. Cognate with paal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɑl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑl

Noun

pal m (plural pallen, diminutive palletje n)

1. catch (mechanism which stops something from moving the wrong way)

Adverb

pal

1. firm, firmly
2. (with a preposition or adverb) right, immediately

Anagrams

• lap

French

Etymology

From Old French pal (12th c.), variant of pel, from Latin pālus (“stake, pole”). Doublet of pieu. The Trésor informatisé considers Old French pal a learned borrowing, but it might be a dialectal variant instead.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pal/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Homophones: pale, pales, pals (general), pâle, pâles (chiefly France)

Noun

pal m (plural pals or (archaic) paux)

1. stake
2. pole
3. (heraldry) pale

Further reading

• “pal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Garo

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Postposition

pal

1. (follows genitive case -ni) because, on account of

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpal]
• Hyphenation: pal

Etymology 1

From Dutch paal (“pole”), from Middle Dutch pâel, from Old Dutch pāl, from Latin pālus. Semantic loan from Dutch mijlpaal (“milestone”).

Noun

pal (plural pal-pal)

1. milestone, one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road at regular intervals, typically at the side of the road or in a median

   Synonyms: batu, mil, tonggak

Derived terms

• berpal-pal

Etymology 2

Noun

pal (plural pal-pal)

1. nonstandard spelling of faal

Further reading

• “pal”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pal]

Participle

pal

1. second-person singular imperative of paliś

Mizo

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *pal.

Verb

pal

1. to pass by
2. to hit one's leg on something

Further reading

• Lorrain, J. Herbert (1940), “pal”, in Dictionary of the Lushai language, Calcutta: Asiatic Society

Northern Kurdish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɑːl/
• Rhymes: -al

Noun

pal ?

1. side

Occitan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pal/

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

Noun

pal m (plural pals)

1. post, pole, stake
2. (nautical) mast

Old English

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-West Germanic *pāl, from Latin pālus. Compare Old High German pfāl (German Pfahl), Old Dutch pāl (Dutch paal). Doublet of pǣl, from the variant Proto-West Germanic *pāli.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɑːl/
• Rhymes: -ɑːl

Noun

pāl m

1. stake

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	pāl	pālas
accusative	pāl	pālas
genitive	pāles	pāla
dative	pāle	pālum

Descendants

• Middle English: pole, pol, poll, pall, paal
  • English: pole
  • Scots: pale, pall
  • Yola: pulmere

Old Frisian

Etymology

Borrowed from either Old Dutch pāl or Old High German pāl, from Proto-West Germanic *pāl, from Latin pālus (“stake, prop”), from Proto-Italic *pākslos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (“to attach”). Cognate to Old English pāl. Doublet of pēl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpaːl/

Noun

pāl f

1. pole

Descendants

• North Frisian: pul
• West Frisian: peal, poal

References

• Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009), An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Pipil

Pronunciation

• (standard) IPA^(key): /pal/

Noun

-pal

1. of (genitive relation, also forms genitive pronouns)

   Ne pelu ipal ne takat

   The dog of the man → The man's dog.

   Ashan ini kal mupal

   Now this house is yours

2. for (benefactive relation)

   Tikpiat se mupal wan se nupal

   We have one for you and one for me

Usage notes

• The relational noun -pal is part of a restricted group of relationals that can be used without a possessive marker when it accompanies an explicit complement, thus acting like a preposition:

  Ne pelu pal ne takat

  The dog of the man → The man's dog.

Declension

Declension of -pal

	singular	plural
first person	nupal	tupal
second person	mupal	anmupal
third person	ipal	inpal

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: pal
• Homophones: Pal, PAL

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-der.

Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-slos

Proto-Italic *pākslos

Latin pālusbor.

Proto-West Germanic *pālu

Proto-West Germanic *pāl

Old High German pfāl

Middle High German pfālbor.

Polish pal

Borrowed from Middle High German pfāl, from Old High German pfāl.

Noun

pal m inan (diminutive palik)

1. stake (piece of wood)
2. (construction) pile (for the support of a building)

   Hypernym: słup

Declension

Declension of pal

	singular	plural
nominative	pal	pale
genitive	pala	pali/palów
dative	palowi	palom
accusative	pal	pale
instrumental	palem	palami
locative	palu	palach
vocative	palu	pale

Derived terms

verb

• palować impf

Related terms

adjective

• palikowy

verbs

• palikować impf
• wypalikować pf

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Slavic *polti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti

Proto-Balto-Slavic *-éitei

Proto-Slavic *-iti

Proto-Slavic *pālìti

Old Polish palić

Polish palić

Polish pal

Imperative of palić.

Interjection

pal

1. (military) shoot!

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

pal

1. second-person singular imperative of palić

Further reading

• “pal”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[8] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “pal”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[9] (in Polish)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French pâle.

Adjective

pal m or n (feminine singular pală, masculine plural pali, feminine/neuter plural pale)

1. pale

Declension

Declension of pal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	pal		pală	pali	pale
	definite	palul		pala	palii	palele
genitive- dative	indefinite	pal		pale	pali	pale
	definite	palului		palei	palilor	palelor

Southwestern Dinka

Noun

pal (plural paal)

1. knife

Spanish

Contraction

pal

1. (colloquial) contraction of para (“for”) + el (“the”)

Related terms

• pa
• pa'

Further reading

• “pal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “pal”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA

Tolai

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *pale. from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *balay, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *balay.

Noun

pal

1. house

References

• Mosel, Ulrike (1980), Tolai and Tok Pisin: the influence of the substratum on the development of New Guinea Pidgin (Pacific Linguistics; Series B, no. 73)‎^[10], Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN

Volapük

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pal]

Noun

pal (genitive pala, plural pals)

1. parent, father or mother

   Hyponyms: fat, hipal, jipal, mot

Declension

Declension of pal

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pal	pals
Genitive	pala	palas
Dative	pale	pales
Accusative	pali	palis
Predicative1	palu	palus
Vocative	o pal	o pals

1. Introduced in Volapük Nulik.

Derived terms

• dalepal
• lepal
• palalöf
• palapär
• palef
• palik

See also

• dalefat
• dalemot
• lefat
• lemot
• röletan