dorsal

• (hanging): dossal

From Late Middle English dorsal/dorsale, borrowing from Medieval Latin dorsālis (“of or relating to the back”), from dorsum (“the back”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to dorsum +‎ -al.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɔː.səl/, /ˈdɔː.sl̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɔɹ.səl/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)səl

dorsal (comparative more dorsal, superlative most dorsal)

1. (anatomy, zootomy) With respect to, or concerning the side in which the backbone is located, or the analogous side of an invertebrate.
   1. (anatomy) Relating to the top surface of the foot or hand.
   2. (linguistics, of a sound) Produced using the dorsum of the tongue.

      Coordinate terms: coronal, labial, laryngeal, radical

2. (of a knife) Having only one sharp side.
3. (botany) Relating to the surface naturally inferior, as of a leaf.
4. (botany) Relating to the surface naturally superior, as of a creeping hepatic moss.

• The meanings of dorsal and ventral in botany are somewhat arbitrary, since in botanical usage the concept of a front or back surface is not clearly defined. Compare abaxial, adaxial.

• ventral

• dossier
• endorse, indorse
• tabes dorsalis

dorsal (plural dorsals)

1. (art) A hanging, usually of rich stuff, at the back of a throne, altar, etc.
2. (zootomy, in snakes) Any of the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, excluding the ventral scales.
3. (linguistics) A sound produced using the dorsum of the tongue.

• “dorsal”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “dorsal”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

• lardos

From dors +‎ -al.

dorsal m or f (masculine and feminine plural dorsals)

1. rear
2. (anatomy, linguistics) dorsal

• aleta dorsal

dorsal m (plural dorsals)

1. backplate (of a cuirass)
2. (zoology) shell, elytron
3. (sports) number

dorsal f (plural dorsals)

1. (meteorology) ridge

   Antonym: tàlveg

2. (geomorphology) ridge (on the ocean floor)

• dorsal oceànica

• “dorsal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Inherited from Old French, from Latin dorsum with adjective-forming suffix -al.

• IPA^(key): /dɔʁ.sal/

• Audio:

  (file)

dorsal (feminine dorsale, masculine plural dorsaux, feminine plural dorsales)

1. dorsal

• → Dutch: dorsaal

• “dorsal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• IPA^(key): /dɔʁˈzaːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

dorsal (strong nominative masculine singular dorsaler, not comparable)

1. dorsal

dorsal (not comparable)

1. dorsal

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: dor‧sal

dorsal m or f (plural dorsais, not comparable)

1. (anatomy) dorsal (of the back)
2. (anatomy) dorsal (of the top surface of a hand or foot)

• dorsalmente

dorsal f (plural dorsais)

1. (geology) ridge

   Synonym: dorsal oceânica

2. (linguistics) dorsal

Borrowed from French dorsal.

dorsal m or n (feminine singular dorsală, masculine plural dorsali, feminine and neuter plural dorsale)

1. dorsal

From Latin dorsālis.

• IPA^(key): /doɾˈsal/ [d̪oɾˈsal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: dor‧sal

dorsal m or f (masculine and feminine plural dorsales)

1. (anatomy) dorsal

dorsal m (plural dorsales)

1. ridge

• “dorsal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024