velar

ve·lar
V4E1L1A1R1
UK/ˈviːlə/UK/ˈveɪlə/US/ˈviːlɚ/US/ˈveɪlɚ/

adjective

Articulated at the velum or soft palate.

Similar
hardvelar consonant
OriginLatin vēlāris ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← Proto-Italic *wekslom →
UncommonScrabble 8
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjective
  1. human sciencesArticulated at the velum or soft palate.
  2. biologyReferring to a veil or velum.
nounvelar (plural velars)

plural velars

  1. human sciencesA sound articulated at the soft palate.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveproduced with the back of the tongue touching or near the soft palate (as ‘k’ in ‘cat’ and ‘g’ in ‘gun’ and ‘ng’ in ‘sing’)

Similar
hard

nouna consonant produced with the back of the tongue touching or near the soft palate

Similar
velar consonant
Broader
consonant
Also see
hard

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weg-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wegslomder.?
  3. Proto-Indo-European*weǵʰ-der.?
  4. Proto-Italic*wekslom
  5. Latinvēlum
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  8. Latinvēlāris
  9. Englishvelar

Borrowed from Latin vēlāris, from vēlum (“sail; veil, awning”). By surface analysis, vel(um) + -ar.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic طَبَقِيّ
  • طَبَقِيّ (ṭabaqiyy)a sound articulated at the soft palate
Catalan velar, velar
  • velararticulated at the soft palate
  • velara sound articulated at the soft palate
Chinese Mandarin 軟齶音 /软腭音
  • 軟齶音 /软腭音 (ruǎn'èyīn)a sound articulated at the soft palate
Czech velární, zadopatrový
  • velárníarticulated at the soft palate
  • zadopatrovýarticulated at the soft palate
  • měkkopatrovýarticulated at the soft palate
Danish velær, velar
  • velærarticulated at the soft palate
  • velara sound articulated at the soft palate
Dutch velaar
  • velaara sound articulated at the soft palate
Finnish velaarinen, velaari
  • velaarinenarticulated at the soft palate
  • velaaria sound articulated at the soft palate
French vélaire, vélaire
  • vélairearticulated at the soft palate
  • vélairea sound articulated at the soft palate
German Velar, Gaumensegellaut
  • Velara sound articulated at the soft palate
  • Gaumensegellauta sound articulated at the soft palate
Greek υπερωικός
  • υπερωικός (yperoïkós)articulated at the soft palate
Icelandic uppgómmæltur
  • uppgómmælturarticulated at the soft palate
Italian velare
  • velarearticulated at the soft palate
Japanese 軟口蓋音
  • 軟口蓋音 (nankōgaion)a sound articulated at the soft palate
Polish miękkopodniebienny, tylnojęzykowy
  • miękkopodniebiennyarticulated at the soft palate
  • tylnojęzykowyarticulated at the soft palate
  • welarnyarticulated at the soft palate
Portuguese velar, velar
  • velararticulated at the soft palate
  • velara sound articulated at the soft palate
Russian веля́рный, задненёбный
  • веля́рный (veljárnyj)a sound articulated at the soft palate
  • задненёбный (zadnenjóbnyj)a sound articulated at the soft palate
  • заднеязы́чный (zadnejazýčnyj)a sound articulated at the soft palate
Spanish velar
  • velararticulated at the soft palate
Welsh felar
  • felara sound articulated at the soft palate

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with velar

dealertaylortrailersailorwheelertailorscalarmailerhealersealernailerwhalerscalerstealerjailerTraylorfeelermalarwailerbrailerderailergaolerbraillerfour-wheeler
All rhymes →

Anagrams

ravellaverrevallarve
Cite this entry
APA

velar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/velar

MLA

“velar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/velar. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “velar,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/velar.

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