teal

T1E1A1L1
UK/tiːl/UK[tiːɫ]US/til/

noun

Any of various small freshwater ducks of the genus Anas that are brightly coloured and have short necks.

Less commonScrabble 4

Meanings

teal1

nounteal (countable and uncountable, plural teals)

plural teals · alternative obsolete teale

  1. countableAny of various small freshwater ducks of the genus Anas that are brightly coloured and have short necks.
  2. countableuncountableA dark, somewhat bluish-green colour; a dark cyan.
  3. AustraliaattributivecountablegovernmentA teal independent.

    Ms Haines is a strong proponent of this, and many of the teal cross benchers support her approach to appointing a whistleblower protection commissioner.

    2022 September 26, “Teals, Greens list watchdog demands”, in The Canberra Times, page 6
    3 more examples

    In a bid to defend their inner-city seats, the Liberal Party has moved towards the environmental and progressive left in what can be described as a “teal strategy” that blurs the lines between the Liberals and the Greens.

    2021 September 21, Kurt Wallace, “Navigating the great dividing voter range”, in IPA Today, Institute of Public Affairs

    Concerns of a targeted dirty tricks campaign targeting “teal” independents has prompted the Australian Electoral Commission to bring in its electoral integrity assurance taskforce as pre-polling opens.

    2022 May 9, “AEC mobilises taskforce to investigate corflute damage”, in Sydney Morning Herald, page 10

    That tiny blue slice is what’s left of the Coalition (both Liberals and Nationals), squeezed between the teals and a barbarian horde of mouthbreathers, grifters and flat-out, flat-earth fucking weirdos gathered under the bright-orange war banner of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation — or, as they would officially henceforth be known, His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.

    2026 June 3, John Birmingham, “Neoliberalism ate the world. Enter: Pauline Hanson”, in Crikey
adjectiveteal (comparative more teal, superlative most teal)

comparative more teal · superlative most teal · alternative obsolete teale

  1. Having a bluish-green colour.

TEAL2

proper noun
  1. abbreviationhistoricalinitialismInitialism of Tasman Empire Airways Limited, the forerunner to Air New Zealand.
nounTEAL (uncountable)
  1. abbreviationuncountableAbbreviation of triethylaluminium.

Teal3

proper nounTeal (countable and uncountable, plural Teals)

plural Teals · alternative Teale · alternative Teall · alternative Teel · alternative Teele

  1. countableuncountableA surname transferred from the nickname.
  2. countableuncountableA ghost town in Cole County, Missouri, United States.

TEAl4

nounTEAl (uncountable)
  1. abbreviationuncountableAbbreviation of triethylaluminium.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveof a bluish shade of green

Similar

nouna blue-green color or pigment

Similar
bluish greenblue green

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

teal · noun, adjective

  1. Proto-Germanic*tailijaz
  2. Old English*tǣle
  3. Middle Englishtele
  4. Englishteal

From Middle English tele, probably from an unrecorded Old English *tǣle, cognate with West Frisian tjilling (“teal”), Middle Dutch teling (“teal”) (modern Dutch taling), Middle Low German telink, from Proto-Germanic *tailijaz, of unknown ultimate origin, with no cognates outside of Germanic. Compare feal and heal for similar phonological development. As the name of a shade of dark greenish-blue like the color patterns on the fowl's head and wings, it is attested from 1923. The Australian political sense derives from the colour teal being intermediate between green (signifying environmentalism) and blue (signifying the conservative Australian Liberal Party).

Full word history & related roots →

Teal · proper noun

From teal, a nickname given to someone considered to resemble this duck.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek κέρκηρις
  • κέρκηρις (kérkēris)duck
Arabic شرشير, حَذَف
  • شرشير (šaršīr)duck
  • حَذَف (ḥaḏaf)duck
  • شرشيري (šaršīriyy)colour
Basque zertzeta
  • zertzetaduck
Bulgarian примкар, синьо-зелен
  • примкар (primkar)duck
  • синьо-зелен (sinjo-zelen)colour
Catalan xarxet comú, xarxet
  • xarxet comúduck
  • xarxetcolour
  • xarxetcolour
Chinese Mandarin 水鴨 /水鸭, 鴨綠色 /鸭绿色
  • 水鴨 /水鸭 (shuǐyā)duck
  • 鴨綠色 /鸭绿色 (yālǜsè)colour
Czech čírka
  • čírkaduck
Danish petroleum, petroleumsblå
  • petroleumcolour
  • petroleumsblåcolour
Dutch taling, appelblauwzeegroen
  • talingduck
  • appelblauwzeegroencolour
  • appelblauwzeegroencolour
  • appelblauwzeegroenecolour
Esperanto kreko, krekanaso
  • krekoduck
  • krekanasoduck
  • verdbluocolour
  • turkiskolorocolour
  • verdbluacolour
  • turkisacolour
  • glaŭkacolour
Finnish tavi, tumman sinivihreä
  • taviduck
  • tumman sinivihreäcolour
  • sinivihreäcolour
  • tumman sinivihreäcolour
  • sinivihreäcolour
French sarcelle, bleu sarcelle
  • sarcelleduck
  • bleu sarcellecolour
  • bleu canardcolour
  • sarcellecolour
German Krickente, Kriekente
  • Krickenteduck
  • Kriekenteduck
  • blaugrüncolour
  • petrolcolour
  • petrolblaucolour
  • petrolcolour
Greek αγριόπαπια, βαθυκύανο
  • αγριόπαπια (agriópapia)duck
  • βαθυκύανο (vathykýano)colour
Hebrew טוּרְקִיז
  • טוּרְקִיז (turqíz)colour
Hungarian réce, kékeszöld
  • réceduck
  • kékeszöldcolour
  • récezöldcolour
Indonesian itik, itik
  • itikduck
  • itikcolour
  • itikcolour
Irish praslacha, téal
  • praslachaduck
  • téalcolour
  • téalcolour
Italian alzavola, blu petrolio
  • alzavoladuck
  • blu petroliocolour
  • foglia di tècolour
  • foglia di tècolour
  • turchese scurocolour
Japanese 小鴨, 鴨の羽色
  • 小鴨 (kogamo)duck
  • 鴨の羽色 (kamo no ha-iro)colour
Korean 쇠오리
  • 쇠오리 (soe'ori)duck
Latin glaucus, glaucus
  • glaucuscolour
  • glaucuscolour
Māori tētē, kārikiōrangi
  • tētēduck
  • kārikiōrangicolour
  • kārikiōrangicolour
Norwegian Bokmål krikkand
  • krikkandduck
Persian خوتکا, سبز دودی
  • خوتکا (xutkâ)duck
  • سبز دودی (sabz-e dudi)colour
Polish cyraneczka, morski
  • cyraneczkaduck
  • morskicolour
  • morskicolour
Portuguese patinho, marrequinha
  • patinhoduck
  • marrequinhaduck
  • cercetaduck
  • azul-petróleocolour
  • azul-petróleocolour
Romanian lișiță, sarselă
  • lișițăduck
  • sarselăduck
  • albastru petrolcolour
  • albastru-verzuicolour
  • albastru petrolcolour
Russian чиро́к, зеленова̀то-голубо́й
  • чиро́к (čirók)duck
  • зеленова̀то-голубо́й (zelenovàto-golubój)colour
  • цвет морской волны (cvet morskoj volny)colour
Spanish cerceta, barraquete
  • cercetaduck
  • barraqueteduck
  • zarcetaduck
  • trulloduck
  • azul petróleocolour
  • verde azuladocolour
  • azul petróleocolour
  • verde azuladocolour
Swedish kricka, turkos
  • krickaduck
  • turkoscolour
  • tealcolour
Turkish çakırkanat, çamurcun
  • çakırkanatduck
  • çamurcunduck
  • tealcolour
  • petrol yeşilicolour
  • ördekbaşıcolour
  • petrol yeşilicolour
  • ördekbaşıcolour
Ukrainian блаки́тно-зеле́ний
  • блаки́тно-зеле́ний (blakýtno-zelényj)colour
Vietnamese mòng két, xanh
  • mòng kétduck
  • xanhcolour
Welsh corhwyaid
  • corhwyaidduck

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with teal

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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