Oral

How to spell oral

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce oral

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does oral mean?

1. adjectiveSpoken rather than written, or relating to the mouth.
2. nounA spoken examination, especially in a language or academic subject.

Oral in a sentence

• adjective

  The dentist checked her oral health during the appointment.

• noun

  She revised her French vocabulary the night before the oral.

• adjective

  The new tablets are taken by oral administration twice a day.

• noun

  The candidate was nervous about the oral but answered every question clearly.

Where does oral come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin oralis, an adjective built on os (genitive oris), which simply meant 'mouth'. English adopted it in the early 1600s, originally to describe anything spoken aloud rather than written down, since speech issues from the mouth. The same os root surfaces in several other English words, including 'oracle' (one who speaks for a god) and 'orifice' (an opening or mouth), which makes the family easier to remember. A persistent trap is its near-twin 'aural', which sounds almost identical but comes from Latin auris 'ear' and means 'relating to hearing'; the o at the start of oral usefully echoes the round shape of an open mouth. Over time oral also came to name spoken examinations and to describe medicines taken by mouth.

How the word is built

• or- (from Latin os, oris: mouth)
• -al (adjective suffix)