ralo

Perhaps from or related to Medieval Latin rallus. Compare English rail.

• IPA^(key): [ˈralʊ]

ralo m (plural ralos)

1. tawny owl (Strix aluco)

   Synonyms: avelaiona, paxaro da morte

From Old Galician-Portuguese *rãelo, from a Proto-Galician ranello: ra +‎ -elo, "little frog". Cognate with Portuguese ralo.

• relo, renlo

• IPA^(key): [ˈralʊ]

ralo m (plural ralos)

1. mole cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa)

   Synonym: grilo ceboleiro

• ra

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “ralo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “ralo”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “ralo”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

• Rhymes: -alu
• Hyphenation: ra‧lo

From Old Galician-Portuguese ralo, from Latin rallum (“scraper”).

ralo m (plural ralos)

1. drain (hole allowing liquid to flow out of a container)
2. grater

   Synonym: ralador

• ralar

From Old Galician-Portuguese ralo, from Latin rārus (“rare”). Doublet of raro.

ralo (feminine rala, masculine plural ralos, feminine plural ralas)

1. sparse (few and far apart)
   • 1977, Clarice Lispector, A hora da estrela [The Hour of the Star]:

     Estava meio bêbada, não sabia o que pensava, parecia que lhe tinham dado um forte cascudo na cabeça de ralos cabelos, sentia-se tão desorientada como se lhe tivesse acontecido uma infidelidade.

     She was half-drunk, she didn’t know what to think, it was like someone’d hit her hard on her head of little hair, she felt as disoriented as if she’d lost her memory.

   • 1938, Graciliano Ramos, “Mudança [A New Home]”, in Vidas Seccas [Barren Lives], Rio de Janeiro: Livraria José Olympio Editora, page 9:

     A folhagem dos joazeiros appareceu longe, atravez dos galhos pelados da catinga rala.

     The juazeiros’ foliage was visible in the distance, through the sparse caatinga brush’s bare branches.

ralo m (plural ralos)

1. (Portugal) mole cricket (any of the large burrowing crickets of the family Gryllotalpidae)

   Synonyms: grilo-toupeira, (Brazil) paquinha, (Brazil) cachorrinho-da-terra

ralo

1. first-person singular present indicative of ralar

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ordlo.

• IPA^(key): /râlo/
• Hyphenation: ra‧lo

rȁlo n (Cyrillic spelling ра̏ло)

1. plow
2. plowshare

• “ralo”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

From Proto-Slavic *ordlo.

• IPA^(key): /ràːlɔ/

rálo n

1. plough
2. vomer (facial bone)

• “ralo”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “ralo”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Inherited from Old Spanish ralo, from Latin rārus. Doublet of raro.

• IPA^(key): /ˈralo/ [ˈra.lo]
• Rhymes: -alo
• Syllabification: ra‧lo

ralo (feminine rala, masculine plural ralos, feminine plural ralas)

1. sparse; dilute; thin
2. (obsolete) scarce, uncommon

• “ralo”, 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