Neutral

How to spell neutral

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce neutral

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does neutral mean?

1. adjectiveNot supporting or favouring either side in a dispute, or having no strong or distinctive quality.
2. nounThe gear position in which the engine is disconnected from the wheels.

Neutral in a sentence

• adjective

  The mediator stayed strictly neutral throughout the dispute.

• noun

  Shift the car into neutral before starting the engine.

• adjective

  They painted the office in a neutral shade of grey.

• noun

  The instructor told her to find neutral at the traffic lights.

Where does neutral come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin neuter, a compound of ne (not) and uter (either of two), so its literal meaning was 'neither one nor the other'. Roman grammarians used neuter for the gender that was neither masculine nor feminine, and from that grammatical sense grew the broader Latin neutralis, meaning 'of neither party'. English took the word up in the late 1400s, chiefly to describe people or states that refused to take sides in a quarrel or a war. Over the centuries the meaning widened to cover anything that sits in the middle: a colour that is not strong, a chemical that is neither acid nor alkaline, and the gear position where an engine drives no wheels. The spelling keeps the Latin neutr- stem intact, and the tricky -tral ending (rather than -trel or -tural) is the usual stumbling point.

How the word is built

• neutr- (from Latin neuter: neither of two)
• -al (adjective/noun suffix)