English Online Dictionary. What means dial? What does dial mean?
English
Etymology
The original meaning was 'sundial' and/or 'clock dial'; from Middle English diall, from Middle French dyal, from Latin diālis (“daily, concerning the day”), because of its use in telling the time of day, from Latin diēs (“day”). Compare Spanish dial and día (“day”).
Pronunciation
- (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈdaɪ.əl/, [ˈdaɪ.əɫ]
- Rhymes: -aɪəl
- Hyphenation: di‧al
Noun
dial (plural dials)
- A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as speed).
- A clock face.
- A sundial.
- A panel on a radio etc showing wavelengths or channels; a knob that is turned to change the wavelength etc.
- A disk with finger holes on a telephone; used to select the number to be called.
- (UK, Australia, slang) A person's face. [from 19th c.]
- A miner's compass.
Translations
Verb
dial (third-person singular simple present dials, present participle (US) dialing or dialling, simple past and past participle (US) dialed or dialled)
- (transitive) To control or select something with a dial, or (figuratively) as if with a dial.
- (transitive) To select a number, or to call someone, on a telephone.
- (intransitive) To use a dial or a telephone.
Usage notes
- The spellings dialing and dialed are more common in the US. Dialling and dialled are more common elsewhere.
Derived terms
Translations
Anagrams
- Dail, Dali, Dalí, dali, laid
North Frisian
Etymology 1
From Proto-Germanic *dailą.
Noun
dial n or m (plural dialen) (Föhr-Amrum)
- part, portion
- Synonym: part
- piece, item
Usage notes
- Originally neuter in both senses. In sense 1 now predominantly masculine after German Teil.
Alternative forms
- diilj (Mooring)
- Diil (Sylt)
Etymology 2
From Proto-Germanic *dailijaną. Related with the noun above.
Verb
dial
- (Föhr-Amrum) to divide
Conjugation
Alternative forms
- diile (Mooring)
- diili (Sylt)
Spanish
Noun
dial m (plural diales)
- dial
Further reading
- “dial”, 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
Welsh
Etymology
From Middle Welsh dial, from Old Welsh digal, from Proto-Brythonic *diɣal, from Proto-Celtic *dī-galā. Cognate with Cornish dial, Breton dial and Old Irish dígal and its modern derivatives.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdiː.al/
- Rhymes: -iːal
Noun
dial m (plural dialau or dialon)
- revenge, vengeance
- Synonym: dialedd
Verb
dial (first-person singular present dialaf)
- to avenge, to get one's own back
- Synonyms: talu'n ôl, talu'r pwyth yn ôl
Usage notes
- This verb is followed by the preposition ar.
Conjugation
Derived terms
- dialedd (“vengence, nemesis”)
- dialgar (“vengeful”)
- dialwr (“avenger”)
- dialydd (“avenger”)
Mutation
Further reading
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “dial”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies