oval

B2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈoʊvəl/ UK /ˈəʊvəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #15154

Meanings

1

noun
A rounded shape like a flattened circle or an egg.

She drew a neat oval at the top of the page.
2

adj
Shaped like an oval; rounded like an egg.

The table had a smooth oval top.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a rounded shape like a... ellipse

2 adj · shaped like an oval;... elliptic

More egg-shapedellipticalovalineovateovoid ovular

Word family

Forms ovals

Derived forms biovalcircumovalhyperovalmonovalnonovalobovaloval-shapedovalescentovaliformovalineovalisationovalish

Related forms ovoid ovum

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

oval window
an opening in the ear to which the base of the stapes bone is attached

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Oval ultimately comes from Latin ovum, meaning “egg,” and literally describes an egg-shaped form. The related word ovary comes from the same Latin source.

Etymology

From Late Latin ovalis, from ovum; cognate with French and Italian ovale, Dutch ovaal. From 1570.

ovalis la-lat

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# oval

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈoʊvəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈəʊvəl/
**Frequency rank:** 15154

## Meanings
1. A rounded shape like a flattened circle or an egg.
2. Shaped like an oval; rounded like an egg.

## Examples
- She drew a neat oval at the top of the page.
- The table had a smooth oval top.

## Synonyms
- egg-shaped
- elliptical
- ovaline
- ovate
- ovoid
- ovular

## Derived Forms
- bioval
- circumoval
- hyperoval
- monoval
- nonoval
- oboval
- oval-shaped
- ovalescent
- ovaliform
- ovaline
- ovalisation
- ovalish

## Related Forms
- ovoid
- ovum

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ovalis

## Etymology
From Late Latin ovalis, from ovum; cognate with French and Italian ovale, Dutch ovaal. From 1570.

## AI Etymology
Oval comes from Late Latin ovalis, from ovum; cognate with French and Italian ovale, Dutch ovaal. From 1570. Modern senses include a rounded shape like a flattened circle or an egg and shaped like an oval; rounded like an egg. The wider word family includes derivatives such as bioval, circumoval, hyperoval, monoval, nonoval, and oboval and related forms such as ovoid and ovum.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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