Shakal
/ˈʃʌkəl/noun
A person’s face, appearance, or outward form, especially in Indian English.
Did you know?Shakal entered Hindi and Urdu through Arabic shakl, a word also used for form, configuration, and grammatical shape—not merely a person’s face.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*š-k-l
“A root associated with form, shape, or configuration”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
شَكْل (shakl)
“Form, shape, appearance, or configuration”
Medieval Period
Persian
شکل (shakl)
“Form, figure, appearance; borrowed from Arabic”
Medieval Hindi-Urdu
Hindi/Urdu
शक्ल / شکل (shakl)
“Face, appearance, or outward form”
Modern South Asian English
English
shakal
“Face or appearance, used especially in Indian English”