Word.ws English Dictionary

ethel

/ˈɛθ.əl/

ethel noun: the rune ᛟ. Also the alternative form of athel.

Noun

ethel

  1. The rune ᛟ.
  2. The name of the Latin script letter Œ/œ.

Adjective

ethel

  1. (obsolete) Noble.
    • […] that he was of a doughty and ethel stirp. His ayle and eam had both been bellipotent; […]1856, Samuel Klinefelter Hoshour, Letters to Squire Pedant, in the East, page 33
    • The violation of an ethel born or noble woman was paid for by a higher murde than that of an un-ethel or common person. The murder of all persons was in like manner paid for by a were or were-geld, nicely adjusted to their relative rank.1861, Henry Brougham, The British Constitution: Its History, Structure, and Working, page 140

Proper noun capitalized: Ethel

IPA/ˈɛθɪl/

Ethel

  1. A female given name from Old English, popular at the turn of the 20th century.
    • If it is so false, and base, and hollow, this great world […] why does Ethel Newcome cling to it? Will you be fairer, dear, with any other name than your own?1855, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Newcomes, Bradbury and Evans, page 95
    • Charmian Lyle had given herself her first name at the age of sixteen, upon encountering it in an English novel. Her baptismal name was Ethel. When her husband Walter was extremely angry with her, he called her Ethel.
    • Charmian, she thought, suited her much better. She didn't think she looked, felt, or sounded like Ethel. Nor like her middle name, which she really detested, Edna.1979, Mary McMullen, But Nellie Was So Nice, Doubleday, page 23
  2. An unincorporated community in Arkansas County, Arkansas.
  3. An unincorporated community in Greenfield Township, Orange County, Indiana.
  4. An unincorporated community in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.
  5. A town in Attala County, Mississippi.
  6. A town in Macon County, Missouri.
  7. An unincorporated community in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma.
  8. An unincorporated community in Richmond County, Virginia.
  9. An unincorporated community in Lewis County, Washington.
  10. An unincorporated community in Logan County, West Virginia.
  11. A hamlet in Huron County, Ontario, Canada.

Also used as

ethel is also the alternative form of athel.

ethel meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

ethel in Hindi

एथेल, एथल, इथेल

ethel in Tamil

எதெல், எத்தேல்

ethel in Marathi

एथेल, ईथेल

ethel in Urdu

ایتھیل
More languagesFewer languages
ethel in Bengali
ইথেল, এথেল
ethel in Telugu
ఎథెల్, ఎతెల్, ఏథెల్
ethel in Malayalam
എഥെൽ, എഥേൽ, എഥൽ
ethel in Kannada
ಎಥೆಲ್, ಎತೆಲ್, ಈಥೆಲ್
ethel in Punjabi
ਏਥਲ, ਈਥਲ, ਐਥਲ
ethel in Gujarati
એથેલ, ઇથેલ, ઈથેલ
ethel in Odia
ଏଥେଲ୍, ଇଥେଲ୍, ଏଥେଲ
ethel in Nepali
एथेल, इथेल

Synonyms of ethel

Forms of ethel

Noun
alternative formœthel
pluralethels
Proper noun
alternative formEthyl

Origin of ethel

Learned borrowing from Middle English ethel, from Old English ǣþel, ēþel.

Short form of names of Old English origin beginning with Ethel-, æþele (“noble”). First used in the 19th century. Cognate to the Germanic Adela and Adele.

Words that rhyme with ethel

Questions about ethel

What does ethel mean?
Ethel means the rune ᛟ.
What is ethel in Hindi?
Ethel in Hindi is एथेल, एथल, इथेल. See Ethel meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is ethel?
Ethel can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce ethel?
Ethel is pronounced /ˈɛθ.əl/.
What is the plural of ethel?
The plural of ethel is ethels.

Words near ethel in the dictionary

  1. ethcathinone
  2. ethchlorvynol
  3. ethe
  4. ethea
  5. eThekwini
  6. ethel
  7. Ethelbert
  8. ethelborn
  9. Etheldred
  10. Etheldreda
  11. etheling

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ethel (page history and authors); Ethel (page history and authors); ethel (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ethel (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ethel (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ethel (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ethel (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ethel (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ethel (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ethel (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ethel (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ethel (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ethel (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ethel (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-ethel.ogg, en-ca-ethyl.opus.

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