dial

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See also: Dial and dial.

English

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Detail of a dial (graduated circular scale with a needle)

Etymology

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The original meaning was 'sundial' and/or 'clock dial'; from Middle English diall, from Middle French dyal, from Latin diālis (“daily, concerning the day”), because of its use in telling the time of day, from Latin diēs (“day”). Compare Spanish dial and día (“day”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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dial (plural dials)

A dial (disk with finger holes) on a Swiss telephone
  1. A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as speed).
    The dial on the dashboard showed the car was nearly out of gas.
  2. A clock face.
  3. A sundial.
  4. A panel on a radio etc showing wavelengths or channels; a knob that is turned to change the wavelength etc.
    Turn the dial to Radio 4: my favourite show is on!
  5. A disk with finger holes on a telephone; used to select the number to be called.
    His hands were too fat to operate the dial on the telephone.
  6. (UK, Australia, slang) A person's face. [from 19th c.]
    • 1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, page 90:
      “Well, all I can say is that if yer don't take yer dial outer the road I'll bloomin' well take an' bounce a gibber off yer crust.”
    • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter IX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
      At the sound of the old familiar voice he spun around with something of the agility of a cat on hot bricks, and I saw that his dial, usually cheerful, was contorted with anguish, as if he had swallowed a bad oyster.
    • 2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 137:
      Old Mona Lisa would have looked like a sour lemon beside Angel Day on the rare days she put a smile on her dial, laughing with her friends when some new man was in town.
  7. A miner's compass.

Translations

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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

Verb

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dial (third-person singular simple present dials, present participle (US) dialing or dialling, simple past and past participle (US) dialed or dialled)

  1. (transitive) To control or select something with a dial, or (figuratively) as if with a dial.
    The president has recently dialled down the rhetoric.
  2. (transitive) To select a number, or to call someone, on a telephone.
    In an emergency dial 999.
  3. (intransitive) To use a dial or a telephone.
    Please be careful when dialling.

Usage notes

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  • The spellings dialing and dialed are more common in the US. Dialling and dialled are more common elsewhere.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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North Frisian

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Etymology 1

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From Proto-Germanic *dailą.

Noun

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dial n or m (plural dialen) (Föhr-Amrum)

  1. part, portion
    Synonym: part
  2. piece, item
Usage notes
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  • Originally neuter in both senses. In sense 1 now predominantly masculine after German Teil.
Alternative forms
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Etymology 2

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From Proto-Germanic *dailijaną. Related with the noun above.

Verb

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dial

  1. (Föhr-Amrum) to divide
Conjugation
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Conjugation of dial (Föhr-Amrum dialect)
infinitive I dial
infinitive II (tu) dialen
past participle diald
imperative singular dial
imperative plural dial’m
  present past
1st singular dial diald
2nd singular dialst dialdst
3rd singular dialt diald
plural dial diald
  perfect pluperfect
1st singular haa diald hed diald
2nd singular heest diald hedst diald
3rd singular hee diald hed diald
plural haa diald hed diald
  future (skel) future (wel)
1st singular skal dial wal dial
2nd singular skääl dial wääl dial
3rd singular skal dial wal dial
plural skel dial wel dial
Alternative forms
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Spanish

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Noun

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dial m (plural diales)

  1. dial

Further reading

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Welsh

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Etymology

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From Middle Welsh dial, from Old Welsh digal, from Proto-Brythonic *diɣal, from Proto-Celtic *dī-galā. Cognate with Cornish dial, Breton dial and Old Irish dígal and its modern derivatives.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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dial m (plural dialau or dialon)

  1. revenge, vengeance
    Synonym: dialedd

Verb

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dial (first-person singular present dialaf)

  1. to avenge, to get one's own back
    Synonyms: talu'n ôl, talu'r pwyth yn ôl

Usage notes

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  • This verb is followed by the preposition ar.

Conjugation

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Conjugation (literary)
singular plural impersonal
first second third first second third
present indicative/future dialaf dieli dial, diala dialwn dielwch, dialwch dialant dielir
imperfect (indicative/subjunctive)/
conditional 		dialwn dialit dialai dialem dialech dialent dielid
preterite dielais dielaist dialodd dialasom dialasoch dialasant dialwyd
pluperfect dialaswn dialasit dialasai dialasem dialasech dialasent dialasid, dialesid
present subjunctive dialwyf dielych dialo dialom dialoch dialont dialer
imperative — dial, diala dialed dialwn dielwch, dialwch dialent dialer
verbal noun dial
verbal adjectives dialedig
dialadwy
Conjugation (colloquial)
Inflected colloquial forms singular plural
first second third first second third
future diala i, dialaf i diali di dialith o/e/hi, dialiff e/hi dialwn ni dialwch chi dialan nhw
conditional dialwn i, dialswn i dialet ti, dialset ti dialai fo/fe/hi, dialsai fo/fe/hi dialen ni, dialsen ni dialech chi, dialsech chi dialen nhw, dialsen nhw
preterite dialais i, diales i dialaist ti, dialest ti dialodd o/e/hi dialon ni dialoch chi dialon nhw
imperative — diala — — dialwch —
Note: All other forms are periphrastic, as usual in colloquial Welsh.

Derived terms

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Mutation

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Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
dial ddial nial unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

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  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “dial”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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