gal

C2+ Topic:Register & Style

US /ɡæl/ UK /ɡæl/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
informal term for a girl or woman

She's a tough gal who never backs down from a fight.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · informal term for a girl or... girl woman lass lady female

Opposites

guy fellow

Word family

Related forms girl

Etymology

A 19th-century dialectal and informal pronunciation variant of 'girl', reflecting a colloquial vowel shift.

Topics

# gal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ɡæl
**IPA (UK):** ɡæl

## Meanings
1. informal term for a girl or woman

## Examples
- She's a tough gal who never backs down from a fight.

## Synonyms
- girl
- woman
- lass
- lady
- female

## Antonyms
- guy
- fellow

## Related Forms
- girl

## Etymology
A 19th-century dialectal and informal pronunciation variant of 'girl', reflecting a colloquial vowel shift.

## AI Etymology
Gal is a 19th-century dialectal and informal pronunciation variant of 'girl', reflecting a colloquial vowel shift. The etymological value lies in the continuity between the older named form and the modern English word, even where no further internal segmentation is supplied. In present use, it is used as a noun meaning "informal term for a girl or woman", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes related forms such as girl, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. Its semantic neighborhood is marked by girl, woman, lass, and lady on one side and contrasts such as guy and fellow on the other, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- Register & Style
- General Vocabulary

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gal

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