oral

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɔ.ɹəl/ UK /ˈɔː.ɹəl/ See IPA manual

Homophones

aural /ˈɔɹəl/

Freq #9935

Meanings

1

adj
Spoken rather than written.

The students gave an oral presentation in class.
2

adj
Relating to or used in the mouth.

Good oral hygiene helps prevent tooth decay.
3

noun
A spoken test or examination, especially in a language.

We have our Spanish oral tomorrow morning.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · spoken rather than written. spoken verbal

Word family

Forms orallyorals

Derived forms aboraladoralcircumoralendoralextraoralfecal-oralhyperoralinfraoralintraoraljuxtaoralnaso-oralnasoral

Related forms oracyorature

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

oral tradition
the passing of stories or knowledge from person to person through speech

Adjective + noun

Etymology

PIE word *h₁óh₃s Early 17th century borrowing from Late Latin ōrālis, from ōs (“the mouth”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

ōrālis la-lat

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# oral

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɔ.ɹəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɔː.ɹəl/
**Frequency rank:** 9935

## Meanings
1. Spoken rather than written.
2. Relating to or used in the mouth.
3. A spoken test or examination, especially in a language.

## Examples
- The students gave an oral presentation in class.
- Good oral hygiene helps prevent tooth decay.
- We have our Spanish oral tomorrow morning.

## Derived Forms
- aboral
- adoral
- circumoral
- endoral
- extraoral
- fecal-oral
- hyperoral
- infraoral
- intraoral
- juxtaoral
- naso-oral
- nasoral

## Related Forms
- oracy
- orature

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ōrālis

## Etymology
PIE word *h₁óh₃s Early 17th century borrowing from Late Latin ōrālis, from ōs (“the mouth”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

## AI Etymology
Oral early 17th century borrowing from Late Latin ōrālis, from ōs (“the mouth”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Modern senses include spoken rather than written and relating to or used in the mouth. The wider word family includes derivatives such as aboral, adoral, circumoral, endoral, extraoral, and fecal-oral and related forms such as oracy and orature.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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