ghazal

G2H4A1Z10A1L1
/ˈɡæzæl/

noun

A poetic form mostly used for love poetry in Middle Eastern, South, and Central Asian poetry.

Meanings

ghazal1

nounghazal (plural ghazals)

plural ghazals · alternative gasal · alternative gazel · alternative ghasal · alternative ghasel · alternative ghazel

  1. communicationsA poetic form mostly used for love poetry in Middle Eastern, South, and Central Asian poetry.

    A poet could explain him to himself but he was a soldier and had no place to go for ghazals or odes.

    2005, Salman Rushdie, Shalimar the Clown, Vintage, published 2006, page 100
    1 more example

    Indeed, this is a realm where colors harmoniously recite magnificent ghazals to each other, where time stops, where the Devil never appears.

    2001, Orhan Pamuk, translated by Erdağ M. Göknar, My Name Is Red

Ghazal2

proper nounGhazal (plural Ghazals)

plural Ghazals

  1. A surname from Arabic.

Origin

ghazal · noun

  1. Arabicغَزَل
  2. Arabicغَزَل
  3. Englishghazal

Borrowed from Arabic غَزَل (ḡazal, “to display love to the loved one via speech, to exchange talk of love with the loved one”).

Full word history & related roots →

Ghazal · proper noun

  1. Arabicغَزَال“gazelle; delicate person”
  2. EnglishGhazal

Borrowed from Arabic غَزَال (ḡazāl, “gazelle; delicate person”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic غَزَل
  • غَزَل (ḡazal)a poetic form
Bengali গজল
  • গজল (gojol)a poetic form
Chinese Mandarin 加扎勒
  • 加扎勒 (jiāzālè)a poetic form
Finnish gaseeli
  • gaseelia poetic form
French ghazel
  • ghazela poetic form
German Ghasel
  • Ghasela poetic form
Greek γαζέλα
  • γαζέλα (gazéla)a poetic form
Hindi ग़ज़ल, गजल
  • ग़ज़ल (ġazal)a poetic form
  • गजल (gajal)a poetic form
Indonesian gazal
  • gazala poetic form
Japanese ガザル
  • ガザル (gazaru)a poetic form
Malay ghazal
  • ghazala poetic form
Portuguese gazel, gazal
  • gazela poetic form
  • gazala poetic form
Punjabi ਗ਼ਜ਼ਲ
  • ਗ਼ਜ਼ਲ (ġazal)a poetic form
Russian газе́ль
  • газе́ль (gazɛ́lʹ)a poetic form
Spanish ghazal, gazal
  • ghazala poetic form
  • gazala poetic form
Swedish ghasel, ghazel
  • ghasela poetic form
  • ghazela poetic form
  • ghazala poetic form
Turkish gazel
  • gazela poetic form
Ukrainian газе́ль
  • газе́ль (hazélʹ)a poetic form
Urdu غَزَل
  • غَزَل (ġazal)a poetic form

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

ghazal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ghazal

MLA

“ghazal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ghazal. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ghazal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ghazal.

Source: ghazal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.