gel

Coined by Thomas Graham in the mid 19th century as a clipping of gelatin, from French gélatine, from Italian gelatina, diminutive form of gelata (“iced”), from Latin gelata, past participle of gelo (“to freeze”), from gelu (“frost”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”)

• enPR: jĕl, IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɛl/, [d͡ʒɛɫ]
• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Homophones: jel, jell

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gel (countable and uncountable, plural gels)

1. A semi-solid to almost solid colloid of a solid and a liquid, such as jelly, cheese or opal.
   • 2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 200:

     Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.

2. Any gel intended for a particular cosmetic use, such as for styling the hair.
3. A film of flexible transparent plastic (such as acetate, celluloid, or cellophane) suitable for making superimpositions or diapositives (image to overlay on other images, especially for overhead projectors); a digital virtual equivalent of this.

For more information on classification of colloids, see Wikipedia article on colloids

gel (third-person singular simple present gels, present participle gelling, simple past and past participle gelled)

1. (transitive) To apply (cosmetic) gel to (the hair, etc).
   • 2017 June 3, Daniel Taylor, “Real Madrid win Champions League as Cristiano Ronaldo double defeats Juv”, in The Guardian (London)‎:

     It ended, as it so often does, with that familiar smile. Cristiano Ronaldo – gelled hair, dazzling teeth, magic in his boots – will never forget the night he scored the 600th goal of an almost implausible career.

2. (intransitive) To become a gel.
3. (intransitive) To develop a rapport.

   He was a nice guy, and I got on OK with his friends, but the two of us never really gelled.

4. (intransitive, figurative) To come together to form something; to cohere.

   We put our ideas together and they eventually gelled into a saleable product.

• aerosol
• colloid
• emulsion
• foam
• sol

Imitative of upper-class British pronunciation of girl.

• enPR: gĕl, IPA^(key): /ɡɛl/

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gel (plural gels)

1. (British, slang) A girl.
   • 1955, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew, London: The Bodley Head, →OCLC:

     "Now pray don't be troublesome, my dear gel," said Uncle Andrew.

• ELG, ElG, leg, leg.

Inherited from Old Catalan gel, from Latin gelū, from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”).

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈʒɛl]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [ˈd͡ʒɛl]

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gel m (plural gels)

1. ice

   Synonym: glaç

2. gel

• gelar

• “gel” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “gel”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “gel” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “gel” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From English gel.

gel

1. (Cantonese) to gel
2. (Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang, neologism) to predict with confidence

• ghéel (Sette Comuni)

From Middle High German gël, from Old High German gelo, from Proto-West Germanic *gelu, from Proto-Germanic *gelwaz (“yellow”). Cognate with German gelb, English yellow.

gel

1. (Luserna) yellow

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ʒɛl/, /dʒɛl/

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gel m or n (plural gels)

1. gel (suspension of solid in liquid)
2. gel (cosmetic preparation)

• leg

• IPA^(key): /ɡeːl/

gel

1. yellow

Inherited from Latin gelū, from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”). For the sense of "gel", compare English gel; compare gélatine.

• IPA^(key): /ʒɛl/

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gel m (plural gels)

1. frost

   Synonym: givre

2. gel (suspension of solid in liquid)
3. gel (cosmetic preparation)
4. (colloquialism, Canada) fall freeze
   1. (seasons, time) freeze-up, one of the 6 seasons of high latitudes; the freeze.

• glace

• “gel”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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gel (strong nominative masculine singular geler, comparative geler, superlative am gelsten)

1. (obsolete) Alternative spelling of gehl, alternative form of gelb (“yellow”)

• IPA^(key): /ɡeːl/

gel

1. Alternative spelling of geel

• IPA^(key): /cɛːl/
• Rhymes: -ɛːl

gel n (genitive singular gels, no plural)

1. gel

gel

1. woman
2. wife

• jel

gel

1. Contraction of ge + le (I […] it)

From Proto-Celtic *gelos, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₂- (“to shine”).

• IPA^(key): /ɡʲel/

gel

1. bright
2. clear
3. white

• aingel

• Irish: geal
• Manx: gial
• Scottish Gaelic: geal

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “1 gel”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

gel

1. first-person singular present active indicative of gala

From Proto-Germanic *gailaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰoylos (“frothing, tempestuous, wanton”). Cognate with Old English gāl, Dutch geil (“salacious, lustful”), Old High German geil (German geil (“lustful”)), Old Norse geiligr (“beautiful”).

gēl (comparative gēloro, superlative gēlost)

1. wanton, lustful; wicked

Borrowed from English gel.[1]

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɛl, (Brazil) -ɛw
• Hyphenation: gel

gel m (plural géis or geles)

1. gel (suspension of solid in liquid)

Borrowed from French gel.

gel n (plural geluri)

1. gel

From gelatina or borrowed from French gel. Compare English gel, gelatine.

• IPA^(key): /ˈxel/ [ˈxel]
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: gel

gel m (plural geles)

1. gel (semi-solid colloid of a solid and a liquid)
2. gel (cosmetic gel, especially body wash)

• “gel”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

From English girl.

gel

1. girl

• IPA^(key): /ɟɛl/, [ɟæl]

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gel

1. second-person singular imperative of gelmek