dental

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-

Proto-Indo-European *-ónts

Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts

Proto-Italic *dents

Latin dēns

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Medieval Latin dentālisder.

Middle French dentalbor.

▲

Late Latin dentālisbor.

English dental

Borrowed from Middle French dental or Late Latin dentālis, from dēns (“a tooth”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛn.təl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛn.təl/, [ˈdɛnɾəɫ], [ˈdɛɾ̃əɫ], [ˈdɛnəɫ], [ˈdɛnɾɫ̩], [ˈdɛɾ̃ɫ̩], [ˈdɛnɫ̩]
• Rhymes: -ɛntəl

Adjective

dental (comparative more dental, superlative most dental)

1. (relational) Of or concerning the teeth.

   Synonyms: toothly, teethly

   dental care

2. (dentistry, relational) Of or concerning dentistry.
3. (phonetics) Articulated with the tip of the tongue touching the upper front teeth or with the blade of the tongue touching the alveolar ridge, so that the tip of the tongue rests near the teeth.

   dental fricative

4. (phonetics, uncommon) Articulated with the tip or blade of the tongue: coronal.

Derived terms

• addental
• alveolodental
• antidental
• apicodental
• atlantodental
• bidental
• craniodental
• dental alveolus
• dental ape
• dental arch
• dental calculus
• dental cap
• dental care
• dentalcare
• dental caries
• dental clinic
• dental crown
• dental dam
• dental drill
• dental engine
• dental floss
• dental formula
• dental fricative
• dental gold
• dental hygienist
• dental identification
• dentalism
• dentality
• dentalize
• dentally
• dental notation
• dental pelican
• dental pick
• dental plate
• dental spa
• dental surgeon
• dental surgery
• gingivodental
• inferior dental artery
• infradental
• interdental
• intradental
• labiodental
• linguo-dental
• maxillodental
• medicodental
• nondental
• oculofaciocardiodental
• orodental
• palatodental
• paradental
• peridental
• polydental
• postdental
• predental
• pseudodental
• skeletodental
• subdental
• supradental
• teledental

Related terms

• dentist
• dentulous
• edentulous

Translations

of or concerning the teeth

• Arabic: سِنِّيّ (sinniyy)
• Armenian: ատամնային (atamnayin)
• Belarusian: зубны́ (zubný)
• Bulgarian: зъ́бен (bg) (zắben)
• Catalan: dental (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 牙齒的 / 牙齿的 (zh) (yáchǐ de); 牙的 (zh) (yá de); 齒的 / 齿的 (zh) (chǐ de)

• Czech: zubní (cs)
• Dutch: dentaal (nl)
• Finnish: dentaalinen (fi)
• French: dentaire (fr)
• Galician: dental (gl)
• German: Zahn- (de)
• Greek: οδοντικός (el) (odontikós)
• Icelandic: tann- (is)
• Irish: déadach
• Italian: dentario (it), dentale (it)
• Macedonian: забен (zaben)
• Occitan: dental
• Polish: zębowy (pl)
• Portuguese: dental (pt), dentário (pt)
• Romanian: dentar (ro)
• Russian: зубно́й (ru) (zubnój)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: зу̑бнӣ

  Latin: zȗbnī (sh)

• Slovak: zubný (sk)
• Slovene: zoben
• Spanish: dental (es)
• Swedish: tand-
• Ukrainian: зубни́й (zubnýj)
• Welsh: deintiol (cy)

of or concerning dentistry

• Armenian: ատամնաբուժական (hy) (atamnabužakan)
• Bulgarian: зъболе́карски (zăbolékarski), стоматологи́чен (stomatologíčen)
• Catalan: dental (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 牙醫學的 / 牙医学的 (zh) (yáyīxué de); 牙醫的 / 牙医的 (zh) (yáyī de)

• Czech: zubařský (cs), stomatologický
• Finnish: hammaslääketieteellinen (fi), dentaali-
• French: dentaire (fr)
• German: zahnärztlich (de)
• Greek: οδοντιατρικός (el) (odontiatrikós)
• Hungarian: fogászati (hu)
• Irish: déadach
• Italian: dentario (it), dentale (it)
• Kazakh: стоматологиялық (stomatologıyalıq)
• Polish: dentystyczny (pl), stomatologiczny (pl)
• Portuguese: dentário (pt)
• Russian: стоматологи́ческий (ru) (stomatologíčeskij)
• Slovak: stomatologický, zubársky
• Swedish: tandvårds-
• Welsh: deintyddol (cy)

phonetics

• Albanian: dhëmbor (sq)
• Arabic: أَسْنَانِيّ (ʔasnāniyy)
• Armenian: ատամնային (atamnayin)
• Belarusian: зубны́ (zubný)
• Bulgarian: зъ́бен (bg) (zắben)
• Catalan: dental (ca)
• Czech: zubný (cs), dentální (cs)
• Dutch: dentaal (nl)
• Finnish: dentaalinen (fi)
• French: dental (fr)
• Georgian: კბილისმიერი (ḳbilismieri), დენტალური (denṭaluri)
• German: dental (de)
• Greek: οδοντικός (el) (odontikós)
• Hungarian: dentális (hu)
• Icelandic: tannmæltur
• Irish: déadach
• Italian: dentale (it)
• Japanese: 歯音 (ja) (しおん, shion)
• Kashmiri: دٔنٛدؠ (dạnd')
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 치음(齒音) (ko) (chieum)
• Polish: zębowy (pl)
• Portuguese: dental (pt)
• Russian: зубно́й (ru) (zubnój)
• Sanskrit: दन्त्य (sa) (dantya)
• Spanish: dental (es)
• Swedish: dental (sv)
• Ukrainian: зубни́й (zubnýj)
• Welsh: deintiol (cy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Serbo-Croatian: (3) ^{(please verify)} dental (sh) m, (3) ^{(please verify)} zubnik (sh) m

Noun

dental (plural dentals)

1. (veterinary medicine) Cleaning and polishing of an animal's teeth.

   Synonym: prophy

2. (phonetics) A dental sound.
   • 1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 253:

     'Che Normah pronounced the name in the Malay manner, metathetically: Ruperet, the final dental initiated but not exploded.

Translations

cleaning of animal's teeth

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: raspaus (horse)

dental sound

• Albanian: dhëmbore (sq) f
• Bulgarian: зъбна съгласна f (zăbna săglasna)
• Czech: zubnice (cs) f, dentála (cs) f
• Dutch: dentaal (nl) f
• Finnish: dentaali (fi)
• German: Zahnlaut (de) m, Dental (de) m
• Greek: οδοντικό σύμφωνο (el) n (odontikó sýmfono)
• Irish: déadach m
• Portuguese: dental (pt) f
• Vietnamese: âm răng

References

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

Anagrams

• lanted

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin dentālis, from Latin dēns (“a tooth”). By surface analysis, dent +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [dənˈtal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [denˈtal]
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

dental m or f (masculine and feminine plural dentals)

1. dental

Derived terms

• interdental

Related terms

• dent

Further reading

• “dental”, 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
• “dental”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “dental” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “dental”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

French

Etymology

From Medieval Latin dentālis, from Latin dēns (“a tooth”). By surface analysis, dent +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɑ̃.tal/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Adjective

dental (feminine dentale, masculine plural dentaux, feminine plural dentales)

1. (linguistics) dental

Related terms

• dent
• dentaire

Descendants

• → Dutch: dentaal

Further reading

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

Fula

Noun

dental ngal

1. (Pulaar) union, confederation, rally

Related terms

• dendaangal
• déndingól
• déndinoowo

References

• M. Niang (1997), Pulaar–English English–Pulaar Standard Dictionary, New York: Hippocrene Books

German

Etymology

From Medieval Latin dentālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛnˈtaːl/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

dental (strong nominative masculine singular dentaler, not comparable)

1. dental

   Hypernym: organisch

2. (phonetics) dental

   Hyponyms: interdental, labiodental, lamino-dental

Declension

Positive forms of dental (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist dental	sie ist dental	es ist dental	sie sind dental
strong declension (without article)	nominative	dentaler	dentale	dentales	dentale
	genitive	dentalen	dentaler	dentalen	dentaler
	dative	dentalem	dentaler	dentalem	dentalen
	accusative	dentalen	dentale	dentales	dentale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der dentale	die dentale	das dentale	die dentalen
	genitive	des dentalen	der dentalen	des dentalen	der dentalen
	dative	dem dentalen	der dentalen	dem dentalen	den dentalen
	accusative	den dentalen	die dentale	das dentale	die dentalen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein dentaler	eine dentale	ein dentales	(keine) dentalen
	genitive	eines dentalen	einer dentalen	eines dentalen	(keiner) dentalen
	dative	einem dentalen	einer dentalen	einem dentalen	(keinen) dentalen
	accusative	einen dentalen	eine dentale	ein dentales	(keine) dentalen

Interlingua

Adjective

dental (not comparable)

1. dental (of or pertaining to the teeth)

Related terms

• dente

Occitan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin dentālis, from Latin dēns (“a tooth”).

Adjective

dental m (feminine singular dentala, masculine plural dentals, feminine plural dentalas)

1. dental

Related terms

• dent

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-

Proto-Indo-European *-ónts

Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts

Proto-Italic *dents

Latin dēns

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Medieval Latin dentālislbor.

Portuguese dental

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin dentālis, from Latin dēns (“a tooth”). By surface analysis, dente +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /dẽˈtaw/ [dẽˈtaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dẽˈtal/ [dẽˈtaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dẽˈtal/ [dẽˈtaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /dẽˈta.li/

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

Adjective

dental m or f (plural dentais, not comparable)

1. (anatomy, dentistry) dental (of or concerning teeth, cleaning teeth)
2. (phonetics) dental

Related terms

• dente

Noun

dental f (plural dentais)

1. (phonetics) a dental consonant

Noun

dental m (plural dentais)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Further reading

• “dental”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “dental” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “dental”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “dental”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “dental”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-

Proto-Indo-European *-ónts

Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts

Proto-Italic *dents

Latin dēns

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Medieval Latin dentālisder.

French dentalbor.

Romanian dental

Borrowed from French dental, from Medieval Latin dentālis, from Latin dēns (“a tooth”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

Adjective

dental m or n (feminine singular dentală, masculine plural dentali, feminine/neuter plural dentale)

1. dental

Declension

Declension of dental

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	dental		dentală	dentali	dentale
	definite	dentalul		dentala	dentalii	dentalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	dental		dentale	dentali	dentale
	definite	dentalului		dentalei	dentalilor	dentalelor

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Probably borrowed from German Dental and/or English dental; ultimately from Medieval Latin dentālis.

Noun

dèntāl m inan (Cyrillic spelling дѐнта̄л)

1. (phonetics) dental

   Synonym: zȗbnīk

Declension

Declension of dental

	singular	plural
nominative	dental	dentali
genitive	dentala	dentala
dative	dentalu	dentalima
accusative	dental	dentale
vocative	dentale	dentali
locative	dentalu	dentalima
instrumental	dentalom	dentalima

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-

Proto-Indo-European *-ónts

Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts

Proto-Italic *dents

Latin dēns

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Medieval Latin dentālislbor.

Spanish dental

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin dentālis, from Latin dēns (“a tooth”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /denˈtal/ [d̪ẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: den‧tal

Adjective

dental m or f (masculine and feminine plural dentales)

1. dental

   Synonym: dentario

   Near-synonym: dentífrico

Derived terms

• adhesivo dental
• aparatos dentales
• hilo dental
• interdental
• seda dental

Related terms

• diente

Further reading

• “dental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026

Swedish

Etymology

From Medieval Latin dentālis

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛnˈtɑːl/

Adjective

dental (not comparable)

1. of or pertaining to the teeth
2. (phonology, phonetics) dental

Declension

Inflection of dental

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	dental	—	—
neuter singular	dentalt	—	—
plural	dentala	—	—
masculine plural2	dentale	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	dentale	—	—
all	dentala	—	—

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Noun

dental c

1. (phonetics, phonology) dental consonant

Declension

Declension of dental

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	dental	dentals
	definite	dentalen	dentalens
plural	indefinite	dentaler	dentalers
	definite	dentalerna	dentalernas

References

• “dental”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “dental”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “dental”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)