doctrinal

English

Etymology

The noun form was from French doctrinal; the adjective form was perhaps from Late Latin doctrīnālis, from doctrīna.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɒktɹɪnəl/, /dɒkˈtɹaɪnəl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑktɹɪnəl/, /dɑkˈtɹaɪnəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪnəl

Adjective

doctrinal

1. Of, relating to, involving, belonging to or concerning a doctrine.
   • 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 114, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish):

     Thus it was not only in the doctrinal field that revisionism called into question the traditional belief in the revolutionary mission of the proletariat: the belief was challenged, perhaps more effectively still, by the success of revisionism as a social phenomenon, which robbed socialism of the glamorous prospect of a 'final battle' for universal liberation.

   • 2026 April 17, Marina Hyde, “Is the pope Catholic? JD Vance thinks he has an answer”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 October 2026:

     […] yet inevitably, [JD] Vance is already giving menacing doctrinal advice to the pope as part of the multi-theatre fallout of Operation Epic Facepalm.

2. (obsolete) Didactic.
   • [1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     The word of God serveth no otherwise than in the nature of a doctrinal instrument.

Derived terms

• counterdoctrinal
• doctrinalism
• doctrinalist
• doctrinally
• nondoctrinal
• undoctrinal

Related terms

• docent
• docile
• doctor
• doctorate
• doctrinaire
• doctrine
• document
• indoctrinate

Translations

of or relating to a doctrine

• Arabic: مَذْهَبِيّ m (maḏhabiyy)
• Catalan: doctrinal
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 教義的 / 教义的 (jiàoyì de), 學說的 / 学说的 (xuéshuō de), 教條的 / 教条的 (jiàotiáo de)

• Dutch: doctrinair (nl), leerstellig (nl)
• Esperanto: doktrina
• Finnish: opillinen (fi), oppi- (fi)
• French: doctrinal (fr)
• Galician: doutrinal (gl)
• German: doktrinal
• Greek: δογματικός (el) (dogmatikós)
• Ido: doktrinala (io)
• Irish: foirceadlach, foirceadail
• Italian: dottrinale (it)
• Latin: doctrinalis
• Polish: doktrynalny (pl)
• Portuguese: doutrinal (pt), doutrinário (pt)
• Romanian: doctrinal
• Spanish: doctrinal (es)

didactic — see didactic

Noun

doctrinal (plural doctrinals)

1. A matter of doctrine, or system of doctrines.
   • a. 1680, Thomas Goodwin, The Object and Acts of Justifying Faith:

     His Teaching is not to teach you the Doctrinals of Salvation and of the Son, for he leaves that to Ministers, and to the Bible, to teach you the Doctrinals only in a doctrinal way

   • 1531, Thomas Elyot, The Boke Named the Governour […], London: […] Tho[mas] Bertheleti, →OCLC:

     The Doctrinal of Princes

Translations

matter of doctrine, or system of doctrines

•  Chinese:

   Mandarin: 教義 / 教义 (zh) (jiàoyì)

•  Finnish: opillisuus (fi)
•  French: please add this translation if you can

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin doctrīnālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [duk.tɾiˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia, Northwestern) [dok.tɾiˈnal]

Adjective

doctrinal m or f (masculine and feminine plural doctrinals)

1. doctrinal

Related terms

• doctrina

Further reading

• “doctrinal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026

French

Etymology

From doctrine +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔk.tʁi.nal/

• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

  (file)

Adjective

doctrinal (feminine doctrinale, masculine plural doctrinaux, feminine plural doctrinales)

1. doctrinal

Further reading

• “doctrinal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Occitan

Adjective

doctrinal m (feminine singular doctrinala, masculine plural doctrinals, feminine plural doctrinalas)

1. doctrinal

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *deḱ-

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti

Proto-Indo-European *doḱ-éye-ti

Proto-Italic *dokejō

Proto-Italic *dokeō

▲

Ancient Greek διδάσκω (didáskō)sl.

Latin doceō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin doctor

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos

Proto-Italic *-īnos

Latin -īnusnom.

Latin -īna

Latin doctrīnalbor.

French doctrine

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālislbor.

Old French -al

Middle French -al

French -al

French doctrinalbor.

Romanian doctrinal

Borrowed from French doctrinal. By surface analysis, doctrină + -al.

Adjective

doctrinal m or n (feminine singular doctrinală, masculine plural doctrinali, feminine/neuter plural doctrinale)

1. doctrinal

Declension

Declension of doctrinal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	doctrinal		doctrinală	doctrinali	doctrinale
	definite	doctrinalul		doctrinala	doctrinalii	doctrinalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	doctrinal		doctrinale	doctrinali	doctrinale
	definite	doctrinalului		doctrinalei	doctrinalilor	doctrinalelor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /doɡtɾiˈnal/ [d̪oɣ̞.t̪ɾiˈnal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: doc‧tri‧nal

Adjective

doctrinal m or f (masculine and feminine plural doctrinales)

1. doctrinal

Derived terms

• doctrinalmente

Noun

doctrinal m (plural doctrinales)

1. doctrinal

Further reading

• “doctrinal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026