cel

See also: Appendix:Variations of "cel"

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Celtic, French celtique, or Latin celticus.

Symbol

cel

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-5 language code for Celtic languages.

English

Alternative forms

• cell

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Homophones: cell, sell
• Rhymes: -ɛl

Etymology 1

Clipping of celluloid. Piecewise doublet of cell, both ultimately from Latin cella.

Noun

cel (plural cels)

1. A piece of celluloid on which has been drawn a frame of an animated film.
   • 2008 June 22, Michael Hirschorn, “Success Story 2”, in The New York Times Book Review‎^[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 September 2025:

     After Jobs’s $5 million offer was rejected, the team attempted to do a deal with Disney, then a bastion of hand-painted cel animation.

Derived terms

• cel-shaded
• cel shading

Etymology 2

Clipping of celibate.

Noun

cel (plural cels)

1. Clipping of celibacy or celibate.

Synonyms

• celibate
• truecel/trucel

Derived terms

terms derived using cel as suffix

• femcel
• heightcel
• hicel
• incel
• nearcel
• noncel
• truecel
• volcel

Anagrams

• CLE, ECL, LCE, LEC

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin caelum, from Proto-Italic *kailom, from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂i-lom (“whole”), from *keh₂i-. Compare Occitan cèl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈse̞l]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈsɛl]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

Noun

cel m (plural cels)

1. sky
2. heaven

Derived terms

• arc del cel
• celobert
• gratacel

Related terms

• celeste

Further reading

• “cel”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “cel”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “cel” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “cel”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Crimean Tatar

Noun

cel

1. (Northern dialect) gale, wind

Usage notes

• Literary form: yel

Declension

Declension of cel

nominative	cel
genitive	celniñ
dative	celge
accusative	celni
locative	celde
ablative	celden

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sɛl]

Noun

cel f

1. genitive plural of cela

Noun

cel n

1. genitive plural of clo

Verb

cel

1. second-person singular imperative of celit

Dutch

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Dutch celle, from Latin cella.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cel
• Rhymes: -ɛl

Noun

cel f (plural cellen, diminutive celletje n)

1. cell (a compartment)
   1. component of a battery
   2. (biology) component of a body tissue
   3. (architecture) a small room, such as a prison or cloister cell
   4. (entomology) cell – of a honeycomb
   5. (computer science) cell – of a table

Synonyms

• (prison cell): gevangeniscel
• (cloister cell): kloostercel

Derived terms

• bloedcel
• brandstofcel
• celdeling
• celdodend
• celkern
• cellenbeton
• celmaat
• celmembraan
• celsplitsing
• celwand
• eencellig
• eicel
• geslachtscel
• gevangeniscel
• hersencel
• kiemcel
• kloostercel
• knoopcel
• meercellig
• spermacel
• telefooncel
• terreurcel
• zaadcel
• zenuwcel

Descendants

• Afrikaans: sel
• → Indonesian: sel
• → Papiamentu: sèl

Latvian

Verb

cel

1. inflection of celt:
   1. second-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Lombard

Etymology

Inherited from Latin caelum.

Noun

cel m

1. (Old Lombard) sky
2. (Old Lombard) heaven

Old French

Alternative forms

• cil, chil, chel

Etymology

From an earlier cil, from Vulgar Latin *ecce ille, a compound of Latin ecce and ille. Largely replaced cist used in earlier Old French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (unstressed) /t͡səl/
• IPA^(key): (stressed) /ˈt͡sɛl/

Adjective

cel m (feminine cele)

1. this (the one in question)

Declension

	Case	masculine	feminine	neuter
singular	subject	cels	cele	cel
	oblique	cel			cele	cel
plural	subject	cel	celes		cel
	oblique	cels			celes	cel

Synonyms

• cist (chiefly 12^th and 13^th centuries)

Descendants

• Middle French: cel
  • French: ce
  • Lorrain: ceil

Old Occitan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin caelum.

Noun

cel m

1. Heaven

Descendants

• Occitan: cèl, ciau, ciel, cèu

Old Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *deh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-y(eti)

Proto-Indo-European *-y(éti)

Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y-

Proto-Indo-European *-lom

Proto-Indo-European *dh₂ilom?

Proto-Germanic *tilą

Proto-West Germanic *til

Old High German zil

Middle High German zilbor.

Old Czech cílbor.

Old Polish cel

Borrowed from Old Czech cíl. First attested in the fifteenth century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /t͡sʲɛːlʲ/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /t͡sʲelʲ/

Noun

cel m animacy unattested

1. target (butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile)
   • 1930 [c. 1455], “I Reg”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎^{transliteration, transcription}, 20, 20:

     A ia trsy strzali wipusczø podle gego y wistrzelyø, iako bich zwikal strzelyacz ku celu (quasi exercens me ad signum)

     [A ja trzy strzały wypuszczę podle jego i wystrzelę, jako bych zwykał strzelać ku celu (quasi exercens me ad signum)]

Derived terms

verbs

• cylować impf

Descendants

• Polish: cel, cyl, czel (Middle Polish)
  • → Belarusian: цэль (celʹ)
  • → Esperanto: celo
  • → Kashubian: cél
  • → Slovincian: cél
  • → Russian: цель (celʹ), цѣль (cělʹ) — pre-1918 spelling
    • → Yakut: сыал (sïal)
  • → Ukrainian: ціль (cilʹ)
• Silesian: cyl

References

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005), “cel”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Bożena Sieradzka-Baziur, et al., editors (2011–2015), “cel”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Polish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡sɛl/

• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡sel/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Syllabification: cel

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *deh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-y(eti)

Proto-Indo-European *-y(éti)

Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y-

Proto-Indo-European *-lom

Proto-Indo-European *dh₂ilom?

Proto-Germanic *tilą

Proto-West Germanic *til

Old High German zil

Middle High German zilbor.

Old Czech cílbor.

Old Polish cel

Polish cel

Inherited from Old Polish cel. Cognate with German Ziel.

Noun

cel m inan

1. (Modern Standard Polish)
   1. goal, aim, objective, target (that which one attempts to achieve)
   2. target (butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile)
   3. target, aim (person or object that is the focus of one's actions)
   4. goal, aim, objective; destination (place where one would like to go)
2. (archaic)
   1. (firearms) synonym of muszka (“foresight”) (front sight of a rifle)
3. (Middle Polish)
   1. end point, borderline
   2. (Middle Polish) synonym of termin (“deadline”)
   3. racetrack; stadium
   4. measuring instrument for determining the direction of a straight line (Is there an English equivalent to this definition?)
   5. synonym of poważanie / szacunek (“respect”)
   6. synonym of przepaść (“abyss”)

Declension

Declension of cel

	singular	plural
nominative	cel	cele
genitive	celu	celów
dative	celowi	celom
accusative	cel	cele
instrumental	celem	celami
locative	celu	celach
vocative	celu	cele

Alternative forms

• cyl, czel (Middle Polish)

Derived terms

adjective

• celny
• celowy

interjection

• cel! pal!

noun

• celownik

verbs

• celować impf, wycelować pf

verbs

• minąć się z celem pf, mijać się z celem impf
• wziąć na cel pf, brać na cel impf

Related terms

adjectives

• bezcelowy
• celownikowy
• celowościowy

adverbs

• bezcelowo
• celownikowo
• celowo

nouns

• bezcelowość
• celowość

Descendants

• → Belarusian: цэль (celʹ)
• → Esperanto: celo
• → Kashubian: cél
• → Slovincian: cél
• → Russian: цель (celʹ), цѣль (cělʹ) — pre-1918 spelling
  • → Yakut: сыал (sïal)
• → Ukrainian: ціль (cilʹ)

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), cel is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 79 times in scientific texts, 69 times in news, 85 times in essays, 15 times in fiction, and 18 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 266 times, making it the 190th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

cel f

1. genitive plural of cela

Further reading

• Modern Standard Polish:
  • “cel”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[4] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • “cel”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[5] (in Polish)
  • Zygmunt Saloni, et al., editors (2020), “cel”, in Słownik gramatyczny języka polskiego [Grammatical Dictionary of Polish]‎^[6], 4. online edition, Warszawa
• Middle Polish:
  • Maria Renata Mayenowa, et al., editors (2010-2023), “cel”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
  • Krystyna Siekierska (22.01.2019), “CEL”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]
• Historic dictionaries:
  • Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814), “cel”, in Słownik języka polskiego
  • Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “cel”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
  • J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “cel”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 259

Portuguese

Etymology

Clipping of celular.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛw/ [ˈsɛʊ̯]

Noun

cel m (plural cels)

1. (Brazil, Internet slang) mobile phone

   Synonym: celular

Romanian

Alternative forms

• чел (cel) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

From acel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tʃel]

Determiner

cel m or n (feminine singular cea, masculine plural cei, feminine/neuter plural cele)

1. (popular) that

   Synonyms: acel, acela, ăl, ăla

Declension

Declension of celdeterminer declension, indefinite only

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	cel		cea	cei	cele
	definite	—		—	—	—
genitive- dative	indefinite	celui		celei	celor	celor
	definite	—		—	—	—

Article

cel m or n (feminine singular cea, masculine plural cei, feminine/neuter plural cele)

1. the

Declension

Declension of celdeterminer declension, indefinite only

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	cel		cea	cei	cele
	definite	—		—	—	—
genitive- dative	indefinite	celui		celei	celor	celor
	definite	—		—	—	—

Pronoun

cel m or n (feminine singular cea, masculine plural cei, feminine/neuter plural cele)

1. the one (that is)

   Cel bogat face cum vrea, cel sărac face cum poate.

   The rich one does as he pleases, the poor one does as he can.

Declension

Declension of celdeterminer declension, indefinite only

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	cel		cea	cei	cele
	definite	—		—	—	—
genitive- dative	indefinite	celui		celei	celor	celor
	definite	—		—	—	—

Derived terms

• celălalt

Slovene

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡séːʋ/

Adjective

cẹ̑ł (not comparable)

1. whole

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Hard
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nom. sing.	cél	céla	célo
singular
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	cél ind céli def	céla	célo
genitive	célega	céle	célega
dative	célemu	céli	célemu
accusative	nominativeinan or genitiveanim	célo	célo
locative	célem	céli	célem
instrumental	célim	célo	célim
dual
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	céla	céli	céli
genitive	célih	célih	célih
dative	célima	célima	célima
accusative	céla	céli	céli
locative	célih	célih	célih
instrumental	célima	célima	célima
plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	céli	céle	céla
genitive	célih	célih	célih
dative	célim	célim	célim
accusative	céle	céle	céla
locative	célih	célih	célih
instrumental	célimi	célimi	célimi

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

• “cel”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Clipping of celular.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθel/ [ˈθel] (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
• IPA^(key): /ˈsel/ [ˈsel] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: cel

Noun

cel m (plural celes)

1. (Latin America, US, Philippines) cell phone, mobile phone

   Synonyms: celular, (Colombia) celuco, (Spain) móvil

   • 2024, “LFO (Lupe Finds Oliveros)”, in Phasor, performed by Helado Negro:

     Dedo congelado en mi cel / Foto selfie otra vez / Y ya se fue el sol

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Volapük

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃel/, [t͡ʃel]

Noun

cel (genitive cela, plural cels)

1. (botany) cherry (fruit)

Declension

Declension of cel

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cel	cels
Genitive	cela	celas
Dative	cele	celes
Accusative	celi	celis
Predicative1	celu	celus
Vocative	o cel	o cels

1. Introduced in Volapük Nulik.

Hypernyms

• fluk

Derived terms

• celabim
• celep
• fotacel

See also

• mörit

Further reading

• “cel”, in Vödabuk (in English, Esperanto, and Volapük)