Phrase guide

Holy Grail

name · noun · 5 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.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

name

Meaning 1

An artifact in Arthurian mythology, being in later versions the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper and in which some of his blood was caught during the crucifixion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: Arthurian legend

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

A web page layout with fixed-width columns to the left and right, and a central area that fills the remaining space.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Anything that is highly sought-after but attained only through a difficult endeavor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

Examples

  • Nanotechnology is the holy grail of medicine.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Alternative letter-case form of Holy Grail.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

(legend) chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: grail, Sangraal

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: chalice, goblet

History

Etymology

From Middle English Holy Grayle. (web page layout): So called because it was traditionally difficult to achieve with the available markup.

Across languages

Translations

50 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Breton: Graal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Breton: Graal Santel — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Bulgarian: Свещен Граал (Svešten Graal) — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Catalan: Sant Greal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Chinese Mandarin: 聖杯 /圣杯 (shèngbēi) — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Cornish: Gral — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Czech: Svatý grál — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Dutch: Heilige Graal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Esperanto: Sankta gralo — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Finnish: Graalin malja — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • French: Graal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • French: Saint-Graal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Middle French: Saint Graal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Galician: Graal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Galician: Santo Graal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • German: Heiliger Gral — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Greek: Άγιο Δισκοπότηρο (Ágio Diskopótiro) — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Greek: Άγιο Ποτήριο (Ágio Potírio) — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Hungarian: Szent Grál — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Irish: An Soitheach Naofa — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Italian: Santo Graal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Japanese: 聖杯 (Seihai) — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Korean: 성배 (Seongbae) — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Lao: ຈອກສັກສິດ (chǭk sak sit) — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Latin: Gradalis Sanctus — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Manx: Grail Casherick — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Middle English: Seint Graal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Norwegian: hellige gral — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Polish: Graal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Polish: Święty Graal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Portuguese: Santo Graal — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Russian: Свято́й Грааль (Svjatój Graalʹ) — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Serbo-Croatian: Свети Грал — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Serbo-Croatian: Свети Здела — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Serbo-Croatian: Sveti Gral — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Serbo-Croatian: Sveti Zdela — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Spanish: Santo Grial — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Swedish: den heliga gral — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Tagalog: Banal na Kopita — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Thai: จอกศักดิ์สิทธิ์ — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Turkish: Kutsal Kâse — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Turkish: Mukaddes Kâse — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Welsh: Greal sanctaidd — artifact in Arthurian mythology
  • Dutch: heilige graal — distant or difficult, sought-after goal
  • Finnish: graalin malja — distant or difficult, sought-after goal
  • Greek: άγιο δισκοπότηρο (ágio diskopótiro) — distant or difficult, sought-after goal
  • Italian: Santo Graal — distant or difficult, sought-after goal
  • Portuguese: santo graal — distant or difficult, sought-after goal
  • Russian: золотое руно n священный Грааль (zolotoje runo) — distant or difficult, sought-after goal
  • Spanish: santo grial — distant or difficult, sought-after goal