apical

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep-der.

Proto-Italic *apeks

Latin apex

New Latinder.

English apic-

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālisbor.

Old French -albor.

▲

Latin -ālis

Old French -elbor.

▲

Latin -ālisbor.

Middle English -al

English -al

English apical

From apic- + -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæpɪkəl/, /ˈeɪpɪkəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: a‧pic‧al

Adjective

apical (not comparable)

1. Of or connected with the apex.
2. (botany) Of a meristem, situated at the growing tip of the plant or its roots, in comparison with intercalary growth situated between zones of permanent tissue.
3. (phonetics, phonology) Of a sound, produced with the tip of the tongue.

Coordinate terms

dentistry location adjectivesedit

• anterior
• apical
• apicocoronal
• axial
• buccal
• buccoapical
• buccocervical
• buccogingival
• buccolabial
• buccolingual
• bucco-occlusal
• buccopalatal
• cervical
• coronal
• coronoapical
• distal
• distoapical
• distobuccal
• distocclusal
• distocervical
• distoclusal
• distocoronal
• distofacial
• distogingival
• distoincisal
• distolingual
• disto-occlusal
• distopalatal
• facial
• gingival
• incisal
• incisocervical
• inferior
• labial
• lingual
• linguobuccal
• linguo-occlusal
• mandibular
• maxillary
• mesial
• mesioapical
• mesiobuccal
• mesiocclusal
• mesiocervical
• mesioclusal
• mesiocoronal
• mesiodistal
• mesiofacial
• mesiogingival
• mesioincisal
• mesiolingual
• mesio-occlusal
• mesiopalatal
• occlusal
• palatal
• posterior
• proximal
• superior
• vestibular

• (linguistics): laminal, coronal

Derived terms

• abapical
• adapical
• anteroapical
• apical ancestor
• apical annulus
• apical ballooning cardiomyopathy
• apical dendrite
• apical ectodermal ridge
• apical germ pore
• apicalization
• apically
• apical meristem
• apicalmost
• apicalwards
• basiapical
• basoapical
• biapical
• cervicoapical
• circumapical
• dorsoapical
• endoapical
• juxtaapical
• medioapical
• nonapical
• periapical
• posteroapical
• preapical
• proapical
• subapical
• transapical
• transient apical ballooning syndrome
• uniapical
• ventroapical

Translations

phonetics: produced with the tip of the tongue

• Catalan: apical
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 顶端的 (zh) (dǐngduān de)

• Finnish: kielenkärki-, apikaalinen (fi)
• Galician: apical (gl)
• Georgian: აპიკალური (aṗiḳaluri)
• Portuguese: apical (pt)
• Russian: переднеязы́чный (ru) (perednejazýčnyj), апика́льный (ru) (apikálʹnyj)
• Spanish: apical (es)

Noun

apical (plural apicals)

1. (phonetics) A sound produced by obstructing the air passage with the tip of the tongue.

Translations

sound

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 舌尖音 (zh) (shéjiānyīn)

• Galician: apical (gl)
• Georgian: აპიკალური ბგერა (aṗiḳaluri bgera)
• Italian: apicale (it)
• Portuguese: apical (pt) f
• Russian: переднеязы́чный звук m (perednejazýčnyj zvuk), апика́льный звук m (apikálʹnyj zvuk)
• Spanish: apical (es)

Anagrams

• Palaic

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin apicālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [ə.piˈkal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [a.piˈkal]

Adjective

apical m or f (masculine and feminine plural apicals)

1. apical
2. (botany) apical
3. (linguistics) apical

Related terms

• àpex
• apicopalatal

Further reading

• “apical”, 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

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.pi.kal/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: a‧pi‧cal

Adjective

apical (feminine apicale, masculine plural apicaux, feminine plural apicales)

1. apical (all senses)

Further reading

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

Interlingua

Adjective

apical (not comparable)

1. apical

Related terms

• apice

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.piˈkaw/ [a.piˈkaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.piˈkal/ [ɐ.piˈkaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.piˈkal/ [ɐ.piˈkaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.piˈka.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: a‧pi‧cal

Adjective

apical m or f (plural apicais)

1. apical (relating to an apex)
2. (phonetics, of a phoneme) apical (produced with the tip of the tongue)

Noun

apical f (plural apicais)

1. (phonetics) apical (a sound produced by obstructing the air passage with the tip of the tongue)

Further reading

• “apical”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “apical”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French apical.

Adjective

apical m or n (feminine singular apicală, masculine plural apicali, feminine/neuter plural apicale)

1. apical

Declension

Declension of apical

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	apical		apicală	apicali	apicale
	definite	apicalul		apicala	apicalii	apicalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	apical		apicale	apicali	apicale
	definite	apicalului		apicalei	apicalilor	apicalelor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /apiˈkal/ [a.piˈkal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: a‧pi‧cal

Adjective

apical m or f (masculine and feminine plural apicales)

1. apical
2. (botany) apical
3. (linguistics) apical

Derived terms

• apicalmente

Related terms

• ápice

Further reading

• “apical”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025