Standard Lemma guide

dental

adj · noun · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈdɛn.təl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈdɛn.təl/
  • General-American: [ˈdɛnɾəɫ]
  • General-American: [ˈdɛɾ̃əɫ]
  • General-American: [ˈdɛnəɫ]
  • General-American: [ˈdɛnɾɫ̩]
  • General-American: [ˈdɛɾ̃ɫ̩]
  • General-American: [ˈdɛnɫ̩]
  • rhymes with -ɛntəl
  • CMU ARPABET: D EH1 N T AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: D EH1 N AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or concerning the teeth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: relational

Examples

  • dental care

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: toothly, teethly

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of or concerning dentistry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: relational

Topics: dentistry, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Articulated with the tip of the tongue touching the upper front teeth or with the blade of the tongue touching the alveolar ridge, so that the tip of the tongue rests near the teeth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonetics, phonology, sciences

Examples

  • dental fricative

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Articulated with the tip or blade of the tongue: coronal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncommon

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonetics, phonology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Cleaning and polishing of an animal's teeth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, medicine, natural-sciences, pathology, sciences, veterinary, zoology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: prophy

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A dental sound.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonetics, phonology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

adjective

Meaning 7

of or relating to the teeth

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • dental floss

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

adjective

Meaning 8

of or relating to dentistry

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • dental student

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

a consonant articulated with the tip of the tongue near the gum ridge

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: alveolar consonant, dental consonant, alveolar

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: consonant

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Middle French dentalbor. Proto-Indo-European *h3ed- Proto-Indo-European *-ónts Proto-Indo-European *h3dónts Proto-Italic *dents Latin dēns Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Late Latin dentālisbor. English dental Borrowed from Middle French dental or Late Latin dentālis, from dēns (“a tooth”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

Across languages

Translations

98 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: سِنِّيّ (sinniyy) — of or concerning the teeth
  • Armenian: ատամնային (atamnayin) — of or concerning the teeth
  • Belarusian: зубны́ (zubný) — of or concerning the teeth
  • Bulgarian: зъ́бен (zǎ́ben) — of or concerning the teeth
  • Catalan: dental — of or concerning the teeth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 牙齒的 /牙齿的 (yáchǐ de) — of or concerning the teeth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 牙的 (yá de) — of or concerning the teeth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 齒的 /齿的 (chǐ de) — of or concerning the teeth
  • Czech: zubní — of or concerning the teeth
  • Finnish: dentaalinen — of or concerning the teeth
  • French: dentaire — of or concerning the teeth
  • Galician: dental — of or concerning the teeth
  • German: Zahn- — of or concerning the teeth
  • Greek: οδοντικός (odontikós) — of or concerning the teeth
  • Icelandic: tann- — of or concerning the teeth
  • Irish: déadach — of or concerning the teeth
  • Italian: dentario — of or concerning the teeth
  • Italian: dentale — of or concerning the teeth
  • Macedonian: забен (zaben) — of or concerning the teeth
  • Occitan: dental — of or concerning the teeth
  • Polish: zębowy — of or concerning the teeth
  • Portuguese: dental — of or concerning the teeth
  • Portuguese: dentário — of or concerning the teeth
  • Romanian: dentar — of or concerning the teeth
  • Russian: зубно́й (zubnój) — of or concerning the teeth
  • Serbo-Croatian: зу̑бнӣ — of or concerning the teeth
  • Serbo-Croatian: zȗbnī — of or concerning the teeth
  • Slovak: zubný — of or concerning the teeth
  • Slovene: zoben — of or concerning the teeth
  • Spanish: dental — of or concerning the teeth
  • Swedish: tand- — of or concerning the teeth
  • Ukrainian: зубни́й (zubnýj) — of or concerning the teeth
  • Welsh: deintiol — of or concerning the teeth
  • Armenian: ատամնաբուժական (atamnabužakan) — of or concerning dentistry
  • Bulgarian: зъболе́карски (zǎbolékarski) — of or concerning dentistry
  • Bulgarian: стоматологи́чен (stomatologíčen) — of or concerning dentistry
  • Catalan: dental — of or concerning dentistry
  • Chinese Mandarin: 牙醫學的 /牙医学的 (yáyīxué de) — of or concerning dentistry
  • Chinese Mandarin: 牙醫的 /牙医的 (yáyī de) — of or concerning dentistry
  • Czech: zubařský — of or concerning dentistry
  • Czech: stomatologický — of or concerning dentistry
  • Finnish: hammaslääketieteellinen — of or concerning dentistry
  • Finnish: dentaali- — of or concerning dentistry
  • French: dentaire — of or concerning dentistry
  • German: zahnärztlich — of or concerning dentistry
  • Greek: οδοντιατρικός (odontiatrikós) — of or concerning dentistry
  • Hungarian: fogászati — of or concerning dentistry
  • Irish: déadach — of or concerning dentistry
  • Italian: dentario — of or concerning dentistry
  • Italian: dentale — of or concerning dentistry
  • Polish: dentystyczny — of or concerning dentistry
  • Polish: stomatologiczny — of or concerning dentistry
  • Portuguese: dentário — of or concerning dentistry
  • Russian: стоматологи́ческий (stomatologíčeskij) — of or concerning dentistry
  • Slovak: stomatologický — of or concerning dentistry
  • Slovak: zubársky — of or concerning dentistry
  • Swedish: tandvårds- — of or concerning dentistry
  • Welsh: deintyddol — of or concerning dentistry
  • Albanian: dhëmbor — phonetics
  • Arabic: أَسْنَانِيّ (ʔasnāniyy) — phonetics
  • Armenian: ատամնային (atamnayin) — phonetics
  • Belarusian: зубны́ (zubný) — phonetics
  • Bulgarian: зъ́бен (zǎ́ben) — phonetics
  • Catalan: dental — phonetics
  • Czech: zubný — phonetics
  • Czech: dentální — phonetics
  • Finnish: dentaalinen — phonetics
  • French: dental — phonetics
  • Georgian: კბილისმიერი (ḳbilismieri) — phonetics
  • Georgian: დენტალური (denṭaluri) — phonetics
  • German: dental — phonetics
  • Greek: οδοντικός (odontikós) — phonetics
  • Hungarian: dentális — phonetics
  • Icelandic: tannmæltur — phonetics
  • Irish: déadach — phonetics
  • Italian: dentale — phonetics
  • Japanese: 歯音 (shion) — phonetics
  • Kashmiri: دٔنٛدؠ (dạnd') — phonetics
  • Polish: zębowy — phonetics
  • Portuguese: dental — phonetics
  • Russian: зубно́й (zubnój) — phonetics
  • Sanskrit: दन्त्य (dantya) — phonetics
  • Spanish: dental — phonetics
  • Swedish: dental — phonetics
  • Ukrainian: зубни́й (zubnýj) — phonetics
  • Welsh: deintiol — phonetics
  • Finnish: raspaus — cleaning of animal's teeth
  • Albanian: dhëmbore — dental sound
  • Bulgarian: зъбна съгласна (zǎbna sǎglasna) — dental sound
  • Czech: zubnice — dental sound
  • Czech: dentála — dental sound
  • Finnish: dentaali — dental sound
  • German: Zahnlaut — dental sound
  • German: Dental — dental sound
  • Greek: οδοντικό σύμφωνο (odontikó sýmfono) — dental sound
  • Irish: déadach — dental sound
  • Portuguese: dental — dental sound
  • Vietnamese: âm răng — dental sound
Real reading context

dental in complete knowledge articles