teal

== English == === Alternative forms === teale (obsolete) === Etymology === From Middle English tele, probably from an unrecorded Old English *tǣle, cognate with West Frisian tjilling (“teal”), Middle Dutch teling (“teal”) (modern Dutch taling), Middle Low German telink, from Proto-Germanic *tailijaz, of unknown ultimate origin, with no cognates outside of Germanic. As the name of a shade of dark greenish-blue like the color patterns on the fowl's head and wings, it is attested from 1923. The Australian political sense derives from the colour teal being intermediate between green (signifying environmentalism) and blue (signifying the conservative Australian Liberal Party). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /tiːl/, [tiːɫ] Rhymes: -iːl Homophone: tiel === Noun === teal (countable and uncountable, plural teals) (countable) Any of various small freshwater ducks of the genus Anas that are brightly coloured and have short necks. (countable, uncountable) A dark, somewhat bluish-green colour; a dark cyan. (countable, Australia, politics, chiefly attributive) A teal independent. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === teal (comparative more teal, superlative most teal) Having a bluish-green colour. ==== Translations ==== === See also === === See also === (etymologically unrelated) teal deer === Further reading === “Teal, spicy cough and bachelor’s handbag: the contenders for Macquarie Dictionary’s 2022 word of the year” by Natasha May (2022-11-21), published in The Guardian. === Anagrams === tael, et. al, atel-, LATE, late, Elta, et al, tale, tela, leat, EATL, ETLA, et al.