LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivethird-declension two-termination adjective

vōcālis1

vōcālis (neuter vōcāle, adverb vōcāliter)
Classical[woːˈkaː.lɪs]Ecclesiastical[voˈkaː.lis]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. literallytwo terminationuttering a voice, having a voice; speaking, sounding, sonorous, speaking, crying, singing, melodious; vocal
  2. causativepoeticraretwo terminationmaking vocal, causing or inspiring speech or song
  3. two terminationprophesying

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quī vōcem habet; litterae vōcālēs: A, E, I, O, V.
vōcālis -e — in Mille Verba, Schola

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativevōcālisvōcālisvōcāle
genitivevōcālisvōcālisvōcālis
dativevōcālīvōcālīvōcālī
accusativevōcālemvōcālemvōcāle
ablativevōcālīvōcālīvōcālī
vocativevōcālisvōcālisvōcāle
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativevōcālēsvōcālēsvōcālia
genitivevōcāliumvōcāliumvōcālium
dativevōcālibusvōcālibusvōcālibus
accusativevōcālīs
vōcālēs		vōcālīs
vōcālēs		vōcālia
ablativevōcālibusvōcālibusvōcālibus
vocativevōcālēsvōcālēsvōcālia

vōcālis, e, adj. vox,
I. that utters a voice, sounding, sonorous, speaking, crying, singing, vocal.
I. Lit.
A. Adj.: aves cantu aliquo aut humano sermone vocales, Plin. 10, 51, 72, § 141: ranae (opp. mutae), id. 8, 58, 83, § 227: scarabaei nocturno stridore, id. 11, 28, 34, § 98: piscis, id. 9, 19, 34, § 70: ora (vatis), Ov. M. 5, 332; 11, 8: nympha (of Echo), id. ib. 3, 357: Orpheus, Hor. C. 1, 12, 7: chordae, Tib. 2, 5, 3: carmen, Ov. M. 11, 317: boves, endowed with speech, Tib. 2, 5, 78: genus instrumenti, i. e. slaves (opp. semivocale and mutum), Varr. R. R. 1, 17, 1: ne quem vocalem praeteriisse videamur, speaking, talking, Cic. Brut. 69, 242; cf. Val. Max. 1, 8, ext. 4: antra, in which oracles were given, Stat. Th. 1, 492: terra, Dodonis, Ov. M. 13, 716: genus signorum, Veg. Mil. 3, 5.—Comp.: vocaliora sunt vacua quam plena, Sen. Q. N. 2, 29; cf.: sunt aliis alia (verba) jucundiora, vocaliora ... verba e syllabis magis vocalia (corresp. to melius sonantes syllabae), more vocal, clearer, Quint. 8, 3, 16.—Sup.: eligere vocalissimum aliquem, qui legeret, i. e. with the most powerful voice, Plin. Ep. 4, 7, 2.—
B. Substt.
1. vōcālis, is, f. (littera), a vowel, Cic. Or. 23, 77; Auct. Her. 4, 12, 18; Quint. 1, 4, 6; 1, 5, 20; 1, 7, 14; 1, 7, 26.—
2. vōcāles, ĭum, m. (homines), vocalists, singers (late Lat.), Lampr. Alex. Sev. 34; Sid. Ep. 1, 2 fin.—
II. Transf.: causative, making vocal, causing or inspiring speech or song (rare and poet.): Castaliae vocales undae, Stat. S. 5, 5, 2: de Pieriis vocalis fontibus unda, id. ib. 1, 2, 6.—Adv.: vōcālĭter, with a loud cry, loudly (post-class.), App. M. 1, p. 112; Tert. adv. Prax. 3.

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ-der. Proto-Indo-European *wṓkʷs Proto-Italic *wōks Latin vōx Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin vōcālis From vōx (“a voice, sound, tone”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjective-forming derivational suffix).

Descendants
  • Catalanvocal
  • Englishvocal
  • Englishvocalis
  • Germanvokal
  • Italianvocale
  • Frenchvocalfrom Old French vocal
  • Portuguesevocal
  • Romanianvocal
  • Spanishvocal
  • Dutchvocaal
noun · femininethird declension
vōcālis2
vōcālis f (genitive vōcālis)
Classical[woːˈkaː.lɪs]Ecclesiastical[voˈkaː.lis]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. vowel

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativevōcālisvōcālēs
genitivevōcālisvōcālium
dativevōcālīvōcālibus
accusativevōcālemvōcālēs
vōcālīs
ablativevōcāle
vōcālī		vōcālibus
vocativevōcālisvōcālēs

Origins

Noun use of the adjective vōcālis, in elliptical use for littera vōcālis or lītera vōcālis (literally “sounding letter”), a calque of Ancient Greek φωνῆεν (phōnêen).

Elsewhere
  • Catalanvocal
  • GermanVokal
  • Italianvocale
  • Frenchvoyellefrom Old French voyeul
  • Englishvowelfrom Old French voyeul
  • Romanianvocală
  • Spanishvocal
  • Aragonesevocal
  • Asturianvocal
  • Corsicanvucale
Old Galician-Portuguese
  • Portuguesevogal
  • Galicianvogal
Norwegian
  • Norwegian Bokmålvokal
  • Norwegian Nynorskvokal
Serbo-Croatian
  • Cyrillicвокал
  • Romanvokal

Quick answers

What does vōcālis mean in Latin?
vōcālis, a adjective, means “uttering a voice, having a voice; speaking, sounding, sonorous, speaking, crying, singing, melodious; vocal”.
How do you pronounce vōcālis?
In classical Latin, [woːˈkaː.lɪs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [voˈkaː.lis].