Standard Lemma guide

offal

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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɒfəl/
  • Australian, British, Scotland, Southern, Standard: /ˈɔfəl/
  • SSB Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈɔfəl/ without the cot–caught merger
  • cot-caught-merger: /ˈɑfəl/
  • rhymes with -ɒfəl
  • homophone: awful (accents with either the lot–cloth split or the cot–caught merger)

1

noun

Meaning 1

The internal organs of an animal (entrails or innards), used as food.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fancy meat, variety meat

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A by-product of the grain milling process, which may include bran, husks, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • 1817, John Taylor, Arator; Being a Series of Agricultural Essays Practical and Political in Sixty-One Numbers, Baltimore: John M. Carter, No. 32, Indian Corn, p. 96, https://books.google.ca/books?id=paMBAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false The whole of the corn offal is better food than wheat straw, but its blades and tops are so greatly superiour, that cattle prefer them to hay, and will fatten on them as well.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A dead body; carrion.

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

4

noun

Meaning 4

That which is thrown away as worthless or unfit for use; refuse; rubbish.

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

noun

Meaning 5

viscera and trimmings of a butchered animal often considered inedible by humans

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: variety meat, organs

History

Etymology

From Middle English offal, offall, offalle (“offal, refuse, scrap waste”), equivalent to off- + fall. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Oufal (“offal”), West Frisian ôffal (“offal”), Dutch afval (“waste, refuse”), German Low German Offall (“offal”), German Abfall (“waste, refuse”), Danish affald (“waste, refuse”), Swedish avfall (“waste, refuse”), Old English offeallan (“to cut off”).

Across languages

Translations

81 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: afval — rejected parts of an animal
  • Azerbaijani: içalat — rejected parts of an animal
  • Bulgarian: животински отпадъци (životinski otpadǎci) — rejected parts of an animal
  • Chinese Mandarin: 內臟 /内脏 (nèizàng) — rejected parts of an animal
  • Chinese Mandarin: 下水 (xiàshui) — rejected parts of an animal
  • Danish: slagteriaffald — rejected parts of an animal
  • Dutch: slachtafval — rejected parts of an animal
  • Esperanto: malpuraĵo — rejected parts of an animal
  • Finnish: teurasjäte — rejected parts of an animal
  • French: abats — rejected parts of an animal
  • Greek: απορρίματα (aporrímata) — rejected parts of an animal
  • Indonesian: jeroan — rejected parts of an animal
  • Indonesian: dalaman — rejected parts of an animal
  • Indonesian: visera — rejected parts of an animal
  • Irish: garr — rejected parts of an animal
  • Macedonian: внатрешници (vnatrešnici) — rejected parts of an animal
  • Norwegian Bokmål: slakteavfall — rejected parts of an animal
  • Plautdietsch: Schunt — rejected parts of an animal
  • Portuguese: miúdo — rejected parts of an animal
  • Russian: потроха́ (potroxá) — rejected parts of an animal
  • Russian: требуха́ (trebuxá) — rejected parts of an animal
  • Spanish: despojos — rejected parts of an animal
  • Spanish: menudencia — rejected parts of an animal
  • Spanish: desperdicios — rejected parts of an animal
  • Swedish: slaktavfall — rejected parts of an animal
  • Swedish: slaktbiprodukt — rejected parts of an animal
  • Swedish: slaktbiprodukter — rejected parts of an animal
  • Thai: ซากสัตว์ (sâak-sàt) — rejected parts of an animal
  • Walloon: dispouye — rejected parts of an animal
  • Afrikaans: afval — animal's organs as food
  • Azerbaijani: içalat — animal's organs as food
  • Basque: errai — animal's organs as food
  • Bulgarian: дреболии (drebolii) — animal's organs as food
  • Catalan: víscera — animal's organs as food
  • Chinese Mandarin: 下水 (xiàshuǐ) — animal's organs as food
  • Czech: vnitřnosti — animal's organs as food
  • Czech: droby — animal's organs as food
  • Danish: indmad — animal's organs as food
  • Dutch: orgaanvlees — animal's organs as food
  • Esperanto: tripaĵo — animal's organs as food
  • Esperanto: visceraĵo — animal's organs as food
  • Esperanto: buĉrubo — animal's organs as food
  • Finnish: sisäelimet — animal's organs as food
  • French: abats — animal's organs as food
  • Galician: miúdos — animal's organs as food
  • Georgian: შიგნეული (šigneuli) — animal's organs as food
  • Georgian: გულ-ღვიძლი (gul-ɣviʒli) — animal's organs as food
  • Georgian: ჯიგარი (ǯigari) — animal's organs as food
  • Georgian: კუჭმაჭი (ḳuč̣mač̣i) — animal's organs as food
  • German: Innereien — animal's organs as food
  • Greek: εντόσθια (entósthia) — animal's organs as food
  • Hungarian: belsőségek — animal's organs as food
  • Icelandic: innmatur — animal's organs as food
  • Indonesian: jeroan — animal's organs as food
  • Irish: conamar — animal's organs as food
  • Italian: frattaglie — animal's organs as food
  • Japanese: 臓物 (zōmotsu) — animal's organs as food
  • Japanese: もつ (motsu) — animal's organs as food
  • Japanese: ホルモン (horumon) — animal's organs as food
  • Macedonian: внатрешници (vnatrešnici) — animal's organs as food
  • Norwegian Bokmål: innmat — animal's organs as food
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: innmat — animal's organs as food
  • Polish: podroby — animal's organs as food
  • Portuguese: miúdos — animal's organs as food
  • Portuguese: cabidela — animal's organs as food
  • Portuguese: fressura — animal's organs as food
  • Portuguese: bofes — animal's organs as food
  • Romanian: măruntaie — animal's organs as food
  • Romanian: potroacă — animal's organs as food
  • Russian: потроха́ (potroxá) — animal's organs as food
  • Russian: требуха́ (trebuxá) — animal's organs as food
  • Spanish: menudencia — animal's organs as food
  • Swedish: inälvsmat — animal's organs as food
  • Swedish: inälvor — animal's organs as food
  • Swedish: inkråm — animal's organs as food
  • Thai: เครื่องใน (krʉ̂ʉang-nai) — animal's organs as food
  • Turkish: sakatat — animal's organs as food
  • Ottoman Turkish: ایچ (iç) — animal's organs as food
  • Venetan: interiori — animal's organs as food
  • Venetan: picaja — animal's organs as food
  • Walloon: dispouye — animal's organs as food