Word.ws English Dictionary

-ual

-ual is the alternative form of -al.

Meaning of -al

Suffix (1)

-al (adjective-forming suffix, comparative more -al, superlative most -al)

  1. Of or pertaining to. Adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to produce an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also.
    • base + -al → basal
  2. Forming nouns, especially of verbal action.
    • propose + -al → proposal

Suffix (2)

-al

  1. Forms the names of aldehydes.

Origin of -ual

Back-formation from Latin adjectives ending in -uālis, which are formed from fourth-declension nouns suffixed with -ālis. By surface analysis, -u- + -al.

Questions about -ual

What is -ual the alternative form of?
-ual is the alternative form of -al.

Words near -ual in the dictionary

  1. -ty
  2. -type
  3. -types
  4. -typic
  5. -u-
  6. -ual
  7. -uide
  8. -ula
  9. -ule
  10. -ulose
  11. -um

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: -ual (page history and authors); -al (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “-ual.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/-ual. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.