"ceil" meaning in English

See ceil in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /siːl/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ceil.wav Forms: ceils [plural]
Rhymes: -iːl Etymology: Abbrevation of ceiling, influenced by French ciel Head templates: {{en-noun}} ceil (plural ceils)
  1. (poetic) A ceiling. Tags: poetic
    Sense id: en-ceil-en-noun-WyuDsJOh
  2. (mathematics) Abbreviation of ceiling. Tags: abbreviation, alt-of Alternative form of: ceiling Categories (topical): Mathematics
    Sense id: en-ceil-en-noun-jqS070EG Topics: mathematics, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: ceil function
Etymology number: 2

Verb

IPA: /siːl/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ceil.wav Forms: ceils [present, singular, third-person], ceiling [participle, present], ceiled [participle, past], ceiled [past]
Rhymes: -iːl Etymology: Uncertain; perhaps related to Latin cēlō (“to hide”). Etymology templates: {{unc|en}} Uncertain Head templates: {{en-verb}} ceil (third-person singular simple present ceils, present participle ceiling, simple past and past participle ceiled)
  1. (transitive) To line or finish (a surface, such as a wall), with plaster, stucco, thin boards, or similar. Tags: transitive Synonyms: ciel Derived forms: ceiler, ceiling
    Sense id: en-ceil-en-verb-ZrnJAEd4 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 2 entries, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 15 25 45 15 Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 10 12 41 11 7 19 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 8 10 53 9 6 15
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Verb

IPA: /siːl/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ceil.wav Forms: ceils [present, singular, third-person], ceiling [participle, present], ceiled [participle, past], ceiled [past]
Rhymes: -iːl Etymology: Abbrevation of ceiling, influenced by French ciel Head templates: {{en-verb}} ceil (third-person singular simple present ceils, present participle ceiling, simple past and past participle ceiled)
  1. (mathematics) To set a higher bound. Categories (topical): Mathematics
    Sense id: en-ceil-en-verb-gSmUdJW- Topics: mathematics, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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      "expansion": "Uncertain",
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      "form": "ceils",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "ceiling",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "ceiled",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "15 25 45 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "10 12 41 11 7 19",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 2 entries",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "ceiler"
        },
        {
          "word": "ceiling"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1903 June 1, W[illiam] E[dward] Burghardt Du Bois, “Of the Quest of the Golden Fleece”, in The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches, 2nd edition, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., →OCLC, page 139:",
          "text": "It is nearly always old and bare, built of rough boards, and neither plastered nor ceiled.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
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        "To line or finish (a surface, such as a wall), with plaster, stucco, thin boards, or similar."
      ],
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          "line",
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        [
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          "finish"
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        [
          "plaster",
          "plaster"
        ],
        [
          "stucco",
          "stucco"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To line or finish (a surface, such as a wall), with plaster, stucco, thin boards, or similar."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "ciel"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
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    },
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      "rhymes": "-iːl"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "SEAL"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "seal"
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{
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      "_dis1": "0 0",
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  "forms": [
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        "plural"
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  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
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        {
          "ref": "1890, Ambrose E. Pratt, Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration of Sandwich and Bourne, at Sandwich, Massachusetts, September 3, 1889, page 89:",
          "text": "[…] The mossy sward / Beneath their feet, their carpet was, / An azure ceil, the sky above; […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
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        "A ceiling."
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      "id": "en-ceil-en-noun-WyuDsJOh",
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          "ceiling"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(poetic) A ceiling."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "poetic"
      ]
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        {
          "word": "ceiling"
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        "Abbreviation of ceiling."
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          "ceiling",
          "ceiling#English"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(mathematics) Abbreviation of ceiling."
      ],
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        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of"
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        "sciences"
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        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ceiling",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ceiled",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ceiled",
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        "To set a higher bound."
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        "(mathematics) To set a higher bound."
      ],
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    {
      "homophone": "SEAL"
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}
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  "forms": [
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      "tags": [
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        "third-person"
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      "form": "ceiling",
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      "form": "ceiled",
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          "ref": "1903 June 1, W[illiam] E[dward] Burghardt Du Bois, “Of the Quest of the Golden Fleece”, in The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches, 2nd edition, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., →OCLC, page 139:",
          "text": "It is nearly always old and bare, built of rough boards, and neither plastered nor ceiled.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
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        "To line or finish (a surface, such as a wall), with plaster, stucco, thin boards, or similar."
      ],
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          "stucco",
          "stucco"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To line or finish (a surface, such as a wall), with plaster, stucco, thin boards, or similar."
      ],
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      "word": "ciel"
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        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
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        "(poetic) A ceiling."
      ],
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        "Abbreviation of ceiling."
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        "(mathematics) Abbreviation of ceiling."
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    {
      "homophone": "SEAL"
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  "word": "ceil"
}

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        "To set a higher bound."
      ],
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        "(mathematics) To set a higher bound."
      ],
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}

Download raw JSONL data for ceil meaning in English (5.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-10 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (df33d17 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.