leal

L1E1A1L1
/liːl/

adjective

Loyal, honest.

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Less commonScrabble 4

Meanings

leal1

adjectiveleal (comparative lealer, superlative lealest)

comparative lealer · superlative lealest

  1. ScotlandLoyal, honest.

    We thank you for the pure white fire of his goodness, for the red sword of justice in his hand, for the love he bears his leal people.

    2000 August 8, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, “”, in A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire; 3), London: Voyager, →ISBN, page 706
    1 more example

    Mr Toots, like the leal and trusty soul he was, stopped the cabriolet in a twinkling, and told Susan Nipper of his commission, at which she cried more than before.

    1848, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son
  2. ScotlandTrue, genuine.

    The lealest lover time can show, / Doomed for a lady-love to languish, / Among these solitudes doth go, / A prey to every kind of anguish.

    1885, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, “In which are Continued the Refinements wherewith Don Quixote Played the Part of a Lover in the Sierra Morena”, in John Ormsby, transl., The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha […] In Four Vols, volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co. […], →OCLC, part I, page 30

Leal2

proper noun

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivefaithful and true

Similar
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinlēgālis
  2. Old Frenchleial
  3. Anglo-Normanleal
  4. Middle Englishleel
  5. Englishleal

Inherited from Middle English leel, lel, borrowed from Anglo-Norman leal and Old French leial, from Latin lēgālis. Doublet of loyal and legal.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with leal

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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