Standard Lemma guide

shawl

noun · verb · 4 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: /ʃɔːl/
  • Australian, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard: /ʃoːl/
  • /ʃɔl/ without the cot–caught merger
  • cot-caught-merger: /ʃɑl/
  • US: cot-caught Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada: /ʃɒl/
  • Scotland: /ʃɔl/
  • rhymes with -ɔːl
  • CMU ARPABET: SH AO1 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A square or rectangular piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders, typically by women.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • She wears her shawl when it's cold outside.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A fold of wrinkled flesh under the lips and neck of a bloodhound, used in scenting.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To wrap in a shawl.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

cloak consisting of an oblong piece of cloth used to cover the head and shoulders

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cloak

Narrower terms: prayer shawl, tallith, tallis, serape, sarape

History

Etymology

From Hindi शाल (śāl) and Urdu شال (śāl), from Persian شال (šâl).

Across languages

Translations

98 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: sjaal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Arabic: شَال (šāl) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Armenian: շալ (šal) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Armenian: ուսնոց (usnocʻ) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Azerbaijani: şal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Bashkir: яулыҡ (yawlıq) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Bashkir: шәл (şəl) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Belarusian: ху́стка (xústka) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Belarusian: шаль (šalʹ) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Bengali: শাল (śal) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Bulgarian: шал (šal) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Chinese Mandarin: 圍巾 /围巾 (wéijīn) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Czech: šál — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Danish: sjal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Dutch: sjaal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Esperanto: ŝalo — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Estonian: rätik — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Faroese: sjál — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Faroese: sjal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Faroese: herðaturriklæði — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Finnish: šaali — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Finnish: hartiahuivi — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • French: châle — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Galician: mantón — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Galician: chal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • German: Schal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Greek: σάλι (sáli) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Ancient Greek: ἐπίβλημα (epíblēma) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Hebrew: של (shal) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Hindi: शाल (śāl) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Hungarian: kendő — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Hungarian: vállkendő — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Hungarian: nagykendő — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Hungarian: sál — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Hungarian: keszkenő — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Icelandic: sjal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Icelandic: þríhyrna — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Icelandic: herðaklútur — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Ido: shalo — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Indonesian: syal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Irish: seál — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Italian: scialle — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Japanese: ショール (shōru) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Japanese: 肩巾 (hire) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Karakalpak: oramal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Kazakh: бөкебай (bökebai) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Kazakh: шәлі (şälı) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Korean: 숄 (syol) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Latvian: šalle — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Lithuanian: skara — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Macedonian: шал (šal) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Malay: sebai — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Malay: syal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Maltese: xalla — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Maltese: xall — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Māori: tarapouahi — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Māori: hōro — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Māori: hikurere — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Marathi: शाल (śāl) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Khiamniungan Naga: nìe — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sjal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: sjal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Ojibwe: moshwe — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Persian: شال (šâl) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Polish: szal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Portuguese: xale — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Portuguese: xaile — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Romanian: șal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Russian: плато́к (platók) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Russian: шаль (šalʹ) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Kinyarwanda: fulari — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Sanskrit: शाटी (śāṭī) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Scottish Gaelic: stoc — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Serbo-Croatian: podbradača — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Serbo-Croatian: podbradka — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Sicilian: scialli — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Sicilian: xalli — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Slovak: šál — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Slovene: šál — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Spanish: chal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Spanish: pañolón — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Spanish: mantilla — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Spanish: mantón — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Spanish: rebozo — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Spanish: manteleta — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Spanish: lliclla — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Spanish: llijlla — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Spanish: echarpe — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Swahili: kikoi — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Swedish: sjal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Tatar: яулык (yawlıq) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Tatar: шәл (şäl) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Turkish: şal — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Ukrainian: ху́стка (xústka) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Ukrainian: шаль (šalʹ) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Urdu: شال (śāl) — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Uzbek: shol — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Welsh: siôl — a square piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders