musical

• musicall (obsolete)

From Middle English musical, from Old French [Term?], from Medieval Latin mūsicālis, from Latin mūsica (“music”) +‎ -ālis (suffix forming adjectives); equivalent to music +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmju.zɪ.kəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mu‧si‧cal

musical (comparative more musical, superlative most musical)

1. Of, belonging or relating to music, or to its performance or notation.

   musical proportion

   musical instruments

2. Pleasing to the ear; sounding agreeably; having the qualities of music; melodious; harmonious.

   She had a musical voice.

3. Fond of music; discriminating with regard to music; gifted or skilled in music.

   having a musical ear

   The child is musical.

4. Pertaining to a class of games in which players move while music plays, but have to take a fixed position when it stops; by extension, any situation where people repeatedly change positions.
   • 1962, Edward Albee, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: A Play, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 34:

     Musical beds is the faculty sport around here.

   • 2004, Mike Bright, A Dream Realized: A Collection of Poems by Cowboy Mike Bright, Xulon Press, →ISBN, page 341:

     Musical seats upon an airplane is not a game I recommend.

   • 2006, Evelyn Palfrey, The Price of Passion, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 441:

     “Sounds like y'all are playing musical houses. How did you convince your mama to move to Austin?”

   • 2011, Leonard James Schoppa, The Evolution of Japan's Party System: Politics and Policy in an Era of Institutional Change, University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, page 14:

     Parties were splitting, forming, merging, and dissolving in such rapid succession that the game of musical chairs seemed to describe what was going on better than any known theory of political science.

   • 2014, Tyler McMahon, Kilometer 99: A Novel, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 138:

     Among my small circle of college friends, and even more so among the volunteers here, couples are so often changing places, people playing musical lovers.

musical (plural musicals)

2. A stage performance, show or film that involves singing, dancing and musical numbers performed by the cast as well as acting.
   • 2004, Steven Adler, On Broadway: Art and Commerce on the Great White Way, SIU Press, →ISBN, page 221:

     It is unthinkable for a straight play to enjoy a life span like those of the blockbuster musicals or to earn such astronomical grosses.

3. (probably archaic or obsolete) A meeting or a party for a musical entertainment; a musicale.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [mu.ziˈkal]
• Hyphenation: mu‧si‧cal

musical m or f (masculine and feminine plural musicals)

1. musical

musical m (plural musicals)

1. musical

• “musical”, 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
• “musical”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “musical” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “musical” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• musikal

Borrowed from English musical.

musical c (singular definite musicalen, plural indefinite musicaler or musicals)

1. A musical.

Borrowed from Medieval Latin mūsicālis. By surface analysis, musique +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /my.zi.kal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mu‧si‧cal

musical (feminine musicale, masculine plural musicaux, feminine plural musicales)

1. (relational) music, musical

   comédie musicale ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   oreille musicale ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   scie musicale ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   chaises musicales ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. melodious (pleasing to the ear; sounding agreeably)

   Near-synonym: mélodieux

   très musical ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

• Haitian Creole: mizikal
• → Persian: موزیکال (muzikâl)
• → Turkish: müzikal

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

• musclai

• IPA^(key): /musiˈkal/ [mu.s̺iˈkɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: mu‧si‧cal

musical m or f (plural musicais)

1. musical; of or pertaining to music

   Synonym: músico

• “musical”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• “musical” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).

Borrowed from English musical.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈmjuzikɛl]
• Hyphenation: mu‧si‧cal
• Rhymes: -ɛl

musical (plural musicalek)

1. musical (a show or film which involves singing, dancing and musical numbers)

• IPA^(key): [muzikˈal]

musical

1. musical (relating to music)

• music

Borrowed from English musical.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmju.zi.kol/^[1]
• Rhymes: -uzikol

musical m (invariable)

1. musical

• masculi

musical m (definite singular musicalen, indefinite plural musicaler, definite plural musicalene)

1. form removed by a 1982 spelling decision; superseded by musikal

• musicau (Gascony, Provençal)

• IPA^(key): /myziˈkal/

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

musical m (feminine singular musicala, masculine plural musicals, feminine plural musicalas)

1. musical (of or relating to music)
2. musical (pleasing to the ear)

• musicalitat

• musica

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 463.

• IPA^(key): /myziˈkal/
• Rhymes: -al

musical

1. musical

• mùsica

Unadapted borrowing from English musical, from Middle English musical, from Old French, from Medieval Latin mūsicālis, from Latin mūsica + -ālis.

• IPA^(key): /mjuˈzi.kal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ikal
• Syllabification: mu‧si‧cal

musical m inan

1. (film, music, theater) musical (stage performance, show or film)

• musical in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• musical in Polish dictionaries at PWN

From música (“music”) +‎ -al (“of or relating to”).

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: mu‧si‧cal

musical m or f (plural musicais)

1. musical (of or relating to music)
   • 2010, Irineu Guerrini Jr., Eduardo Vicente, Na trilha do disco: Relatos sobre a indústria fonográfica no Brasil, Editora E-papers, →ISBN, page 177:

     É possível que, quando baixar a poeira e a indústria da música terminar de se reestruturar, constatemos que não só várias atividades profissionais do universo musical estarão em vias de desaparecer, mas também que outras novas estarão emergindo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. musical (pleasing to the ear)

   Synonyms: melodioso, melódico

musical m (plural musicais)

1. musical (stage performance, show or film that focuses on singing and dancing)

• “musical”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “musical”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

• IPA^(key): /musiˈkal/ [mu.siˈkal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: mu‧si‧cal

musical m or f (masculine and feminine plural musicales)

1. musical

musical m (plural musicales)

1. musical

• “musical”, 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