a suffix with the general sense “of the kind of, pertaining to, having the form or character of” that named by the stem, occurring in loanwords from Latin ( autumnal; natural; pastoral ), and productive in English on the Latin model, usually with bases of Latin origen ( accidental; seasonal; tribal ). Originally, -al1 was restricted to stems not containing an -l- ( -ar ¹ ); recent lapses in this rule have produced semantically distinct pairs, as familiar and familial.

other things.

aluminum.

a suffix forming nouns from verbs, usually verbs of French or Latin origen:

other persons.

Chemistry. a suffix indicating that a compound contains an aldehyde group:

Indian mulberry.

Alabama (approved especially for use with zip code).

Anglo-Latin.

variant of ad- before l: allure.

a word in Arabic names meaning “family” or “the house of ”:

Anglo-Latin.

autograph letter.

Baseball. American League.

American Legion.

Anglo-Latin.