Meanings
leal1
comparative lealer · superlative lealest
- 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 7061 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 - 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
- A city and village in North Dakota.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivefaithful and true
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinlēgālis
- Old Frenchleial
- Anglo-Normanleal
- Middle Englishleel
- Englishleal
Inherited from Middle English leel, lel, borrowed from Anglo-Norman leal and Old French leial, from Latin lēgālis. Doublet of loyal and legal.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with leal
Anagrams
Cite this entry
leal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leal
“leal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “leal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leal.
Source: leal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.