Meanings
- A male given name from Ancient Greek; best known for a ninth century missionary to the Slavs.
Zuma – a fierce critic of current ANC leader and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa – was forced to resign as president in 2018 and has been looking for political revenge ever since.
2024 June 5, Sarah Dean and David McKenzie, “Jacob Zuma has made a dramatic comeback in South Africa’s elections. Will he have the last laugh over Ramaphosa?”, in CNN, archived from the original on 28 Aug 20241 more example
Boxers, too, not so long ago a somewhat uncouth section of the community who were seldom if ever mistaken for members of the Vere de Vere family, have taken on a polish which makes their society a pleasure. They have names like Cyril and Percy and Clarence and live up to them.
1954, P. G. Wodehouse, Over Seventy: An Autobiography with Digressions, Herbert Jenkins, published 1957, page 35
Synonyms & antonyms
nounGreek missionary; the invention of the Cyrillic alphabet is attributed to him (826-869)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient GreekΚύριλλος
- Late LatinCȳrillus
- EnglishCyril
Via Late Latin Cȳrillus, from Ancient Greek Κύριλλος (Kúrillos), from κύριος (kúrios, “lord, master”).
More words from Late Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic كِيرُلُس, كِيرِيل
- كِيرُلُس (kirulus)male given name
- كِيرِيل (kiril)male given name
- سِيرِيل (siril)male given name
Bulgarian Ки́рил
- Ки́рил (Kíril)male given name
Chinese Mandarin 西里爾, 基里爾
- 西里爾 (Xīlǐ'ěr)male given name
- 基里爾 (Jīlǐ'ěr)male given name
- 濟利祿 /济利禄 (Jìlìlù)male given name
Czech Cyril
- Cyrilmale given name
Dutch Cyriel
- Cyrielmale given name
French Cyrille, Cyril
- Cyrillemale given name
- Cyrilmale given name
Greek Κύριλλος
- Κύριλλος (Kýrillos)male given name
Hungarian Cirill
- Cirillmale given name
Italian Cirillo
- Cirillomale given name
Japanese キリル, シリル
- キリル (Kiriru)male given name
- シリル (Shiriru)male given name
Korean 키릴, 시릴
- 키릴 (Kiril)male given name
- 시릴 (Siril)male given name
Latvian Kirils
- Kirilsmale given name
Lithuanian Kirilas
- Kirilasmale given name
Polish Cyryl
- Cyrylmale given name
Portuguese Cirilo
- Cirilomale given name
Romanian Chiril
- Chirilmale given name
Russian Кири́лл, Си́рил
- Кири́лл (Kiríll)male given name
- Си́рил (Síril)male given name
Slovak Cyril
- Cyrilmale given name
Spanish Cirilo
- Cirilomale given name
Ukrainian Кири́ло
- Кири́ло (Kyrýlo)male given name
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Cyril
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
Cyril. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cyril
“Cyril.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cyril. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Cyril,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cyril.
Source: Cyril on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.