Dahl or dal?
dahl is a noun meaning “Alternative spelling of dal”; dal is a noun meaning “Any of many dried husked pulses (legume), including peas, beans and lentils”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) dal is about as common as dahl.
What is the difference between dahl and dal?
| dahl | dal | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | Alternative spelling of dal | Any of many dried husked pulses (legume), including peas, beans and lentils A dish made from lentils, cooked with spices, tomatoes and onions etc |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | dahls | dals |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /dɑːl/ |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words | 1.8 times per million words |
Sources: dahl and dal in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of dahl and dal
dahl
- 1
Alternative spelling of dal
dal
- 1
Any of many dried husked pulses (legume), including peas, beans and lentils
- 2
Initialism of data access layer, a software architecture layer
- 3
A dish made from lentils, cooked with spices, tomatoes and onions etc
- 4
Initialism of database abstraction layer, a software architecture layer
- 5
A tropical herb with yellow flowers; the pigeon pea
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, dahl or dal?
dahl appears 1.3 times per million words; dal 1.8 times per million words.
dahl 1.3 times per million wordsdal 1.8 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).