Inherited fromMiddle Englishleel,lel, borrowed fromAnglo-Normanleal andOld Frenchleial, fromLatinlēgālis.Doublet ofloyal andlegal.

• IPA^(key):/liːl/

• Audio(Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-iːl

leal (comparativelealer,superlativelealest)(now chieflyScotland)

1. Loyal,honest.
   • 1848, Charles Dickens,Dombey and Son:

     Mr Toots, like theleal and trusty soul he was, stopped the cabriolet in a twinkling, and told Susan Nipper of his commission, at which she cried more than before.

   • 2000,George R. R. Martin,A Storm of Swords, Bantam, published2011, page858:

     We thank you for the pure white fire of his goodness, for the red sword of justice in his hand, for the love he bears hisleal people.

2. True,genuine.
   • 1885,Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, “In which are Continued the Refinements wherewith Don Quixote Played the Part of a Lover in the Sierra Morena”, inJohn Ormsby, transl.,The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha[…] In Four Vols, volume II, London:Smith, Elder & Co. […],→OCLC, part I,page30:

     Thelealest lover time can show, / Doomed for a lady-love to languish, / Among these solitudes doth go, / A prey to every kind of anguish.

• Ella,Lela

FromOld Galician-Portuguese, fromLatinlegālis. Comparelegal.

leal m orf (pluralleais)

1. adhering to therules ofpropriety,fair,honest,loyal,true

   Antonym:desleal

• lealmente

• lealdade
• lei

FromLatinlegālis.

leal m (feminine singularleala,masculine pluralleai,feminine pluralleales)

1. loyal
2. honest

• (loyal):fedel

• lege

leal m (oblique and nominative feminine singularleal)

1. Alternative form ofloial

• leial(obsolete spelling)

FromOld Galician-Portugueseleal, fromLatinlegālis.Doublet oflegal, borrowed from the same source.

CompareSpanishleal,Catalanlleial,Frenchloyal.

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

leal m orf (pluralleais,comparable,comparativemaisleal,superlativeomaislealorlealíssimo)

1. adhering to therules ofpropriety,fair,honest,loyal,true

   Antonym:desleal

• lealmente

• lealdade
• lei

Borrowed fromItalianleale.Doublet oflegal.

leal m orn (feminine singularleală,masculine pluralleali,feminine and neuter pluralleale)

1. loyal,faithful

FromMiddle Englishleel,lel, borrowed fromAnglo-Normanleal andOld Frenchleial, fromLatinlēgālis.

• IPA^(key):/lil/

leal (comparativemair leal,superlativemaist leal)

1. loyal
2. true,pure

Inherited fromOld Spanish, fromLatinlegālis. See also the borrowed doubletlegal.

• IPA^(key):/leˈal/[leˈal]
• Rhymes:-al
• Syllabification:le‧al

leal m orf (masculine and feminine pluralleales)

1. adhering to therules ofpropriety,fair,honest,loyal,true

   Synonym:fiel

   Antonym:desleal

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