al
/æl/noun
al is spelled A-L: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 145 times per million words in written English, the 711th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, al means “The Indian mulberry, Morinda citrifolia, especially as used to make dye” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of al is als.
How many letters and syllables are in al?
| Letters | 2: A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 145 times per million words; the 711th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is al?
Al appears 145 times per million words in written English, the 711th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce al?
- /æl/
- /ɑːl/
Al has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-al.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-al.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl--al.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with al
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: all.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of al
- als plural
- more -al comparative
- most -al superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does al mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The Indian mulberry, Morinda citrifolia, especially as used to make dye.
For quotations using this term, see Citations:al.
noun
- 1
Initialism of assembly language.
- 2
Initialism of artificial life.
- 3
Initialism of auxiliary language.
- 4
Initialism of annual leave.
- 5
Initialism of assisted living.
noun
- 1
Alfen number
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does al come from?
From Hindi आल (āl).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).