name · noun · 7 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
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/kaɪl/
/ˈkaɪ.əl/
rhymes with -aɪl
rhymes with -aɪəl
homophone: chyle
homophone: kile
homophone: kyle
General-American, Received-Pronunciation:/kaɪl/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
homophone: Kyle
CMU ARPABET:K AY1 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
name
Meaning 1
A habitational surname from Scottish Gaelic.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
name
Meaning 2
A unisex given name.
A male given name transferred from the surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
name
Meaning 3
A unisex given name.
A female given name transferred from the surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncommon, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
name
Meaning 4
A placename
A town in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
name
Meaning 5
A placename
A census-designated place in South Dakota, United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
name
Meaning 6
A placename
A city in Texas, United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
A narrow arm or channel of the sea between an island and the mainland, or between two islands.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Scotland
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: firth, narrow, sound, strait
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From several places in Scotland and Northern Ireland, derived from Gaelic caol (“narrows”).
From Scottish Gaelic caol (“narrow; thin; firth, narrows, strait, kyle; narrow part of something”) (genitive singular form caoil), from Old Irish coíl (“narrow, slender”), from Proto-Celtic *koilos (“thin”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to dissect; to split”).
Across languages
Translations
3 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Irish:
caol
— narrow arm or channel of the sea
Scottish Gaelic:
caol
— narrow arm or channel of the sea
Scottish Gaelic:
caolas
— narrow arm or channel of the sea