Beal
/biːl/noun
A chiefly Scottish or dialectal verb meaning to suppurate or form pus.
Did you know?Beal belongs to an old Germanic family of words connected with swelling and inflammation, linking an obscure word for a suppurating sore to the familiar verb “boil.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰel-
“To swell, blow up, or become inflated; a reconstructed root associated with rounded or swollen forms.”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*beulijaną
“To swell or boil; the ancestral Germanic form associated with “boil.””
Old English
Old English
bȳlan
“To boil, swell, or become inflamed.”
Middle English
Middle English
belen / beelen
“To boil or suppurate, especially of a sore or swelling.”
Modern Scots
Scots
beal
“To suppurate, fester, or form pus; also used of a sore or boil.”
Modern English
English
beal
“A rare dialectal or Scots term meaning to suppurate.”