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DictionaryRoot: -alis
Latin

-alis

of, relating to

Forms

  • -alis
  • -aris — Latin variant especially used when the stem already contained l, avoiding a repeated l sound.
  • -al — English ending borrowed through French or directly from Latin.
  • -ar — English ending continuing Latin -aris.

Origin

An older Latin adjective-forming suffix; its more remote ancestry is uncertain.

Note

Expresses a relationship without specifying its kind: material, place, purpose, and other connections are possible.

249 / 291
determiner / pronoun

several

SEV-ruhl/ˈsevrəl/

More than two but not many.

Several pears rest on the table.

Four distinct ripe pears.
Etymology
severLatinseparate, different
+alLatinof, relating to

From “separate,” several came to describe things assigned individually in legal use. That distributive sense developed into “more than one” and then a vague small number.

In context

Enhanced Public Domain377:12
this Academy is not an entire single building but a continuation of several houses on both sides of the street
1700s Satire: Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels (Audiobook)

More examples

  • Several of us stayed behind to help.
  • I have read several books by that author.
  • She offered several possible explanations.

Forms

several

Similar words

few
Usually suggests a smaller number.
many
Suggests a substantially larger number.