tropical

• trop. (abbreviation)

From tropic +‎ -al.

• (all senses except "characterized by tropes"):
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɒp.ɪ.kəl/^[1]

  • Audio (Received Pronunciation):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɒpɪkəl
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɑ.pɪ.kəl/

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɑpɪkəl
• ("characterized by tropes"):
  • IPA^(key): (Received Pronunciation) /ˈtɹəʊ.pɪ.kəl/, /ˈt͡ʃɹɒp.ɪ.kəl/
  • IPA^(key): (General American) /ˈtɹoʊ.pɪ.kəl/^[1]
  • Rhymes: -əʊpɪkəl

tropical (comparative more tropical, superlative most tropical)

1. Of or pertaining to the tropics, the equatorial region between 23 degrees north and 23 degrees south.
2. From, or similar to, a hot, humid climate.

   We've had a lot of tropical nights this summer.

   My favorite tropical fruits are pineapples and coconuts.

   • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 103:

     Whale sharks are found in all the tropical waters of the world. As with many tropical species, an occasional stray wanders into colder waters.

3. (dated) Pertaining to, involving, or of the nature of a trope or tropes; figurative, metaphorical.
   • 1653 (indicated as 1654), Jeremy Taylor, “The Real Presence and Spiritual of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, Proved against the Doctrine of Transubstantiation. Section I. State of the Question.”, in Reginald Heber, editor, The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. […], volume IX, London: Ogle, Duncan, and Co. […]; and Richard Priestley, […], published 1822, →OCLC, paragraph 8, page 429:

     But we, by the real spiritual presence of Christ, do understand Christ to be present, as the Spirit of God is present in the hearts of the faithful, by blessing and grace; and this is all which we mean besides the tropical and figurative presence.

   • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:

     The foundation of all parables is some analogy or similitude between the tropical or allusive part of the parable and the thing intended by it.

4. (mathematics) Pertaining to tropical geometry.

tropical (plural tropicals)

1. A tropical plant.
   • 1856, “The Horticulturist and Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1], volume 12, page 275:

     The potato, as a mountain tropical plant, is capable of growing in cooler weather than any other tropical except the Nasturtian.

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “tropical”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “tropical”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “tropical”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• pictoral, proictal

From tròpic +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [tɾu.piˈkal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [tɾo.piˈkal]

tropical m or f (masculine and feminine plural tropicals)

1. tropical

• “tropical”, 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

From tropique +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /tʁɔ.pi.kal/

• Audio:

  (file)

tropical (feminine tropicale, masculine plural tropicaux, feminine plural tropicales)

1. (relational) of the tropics; tropical

   forêt tropicale ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (figuratively) scorching

   Synonym: caniculaire

• → Romanian: tropical
• → Turkish: tropikal

• équatorial

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

• IPA^(key): /tɾɔpiˈkal/ [t̪ɾɔ.piˈkɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: tro‧pi‧cal

tropical m or f (plural tropicais)

1. tropical

• “tropical”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

• IPA^(key): /trupiˈkal/

tropical

1. tropical

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: tro‧pi‧cal

tropical m or f (plural tropicais)

1. tropical (of or relating to the tropics)
2. tropical (from or similar to a hod humid climate)

• “tropical” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Borrowed from French tropical. By surface analysis, tropic +‎ -al.

tropical m or n (feminine singular tropicală, masculine plural tropicali, feminine and neuter plural tropicale)

1. tropical

From trópico +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /tɾopiˈkal/ [t̪ɾo.piˈkal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: tro‧pi‧cal

tropical m or f (masculine and feminine plural tropicales)

1. tropical

• “tropical”, 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