"surprisal" meaning in English

See surprisal in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /sə(ɹ)ˈpɹaɪzəl/ Forms: surprisals [plural]
Etymology: Etymology tree English surprise Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English surprisal From surprise + -al. (information measure): Defined by Myron Tribus in the 1961 book Thermostatics and Thermodynamics. Etymology templates: {{ety|en|:af|surprise|-al<id:nominal>|text=+|tree=1}} Etymology tree English surprise Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English surprisal [Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from", "terms" : [ { "id" : "forming adjectives", "children" : [ { "keyword_abbrev" : "bor.", "keyword_label" : "Borrowed from", "terms" : [ { "id" : "adjectivizing suffix", "children" : [ { "terms" : [ { "children" : [ ], "lang_name" : "Proto-Italic", "term" : "*-ālis", "status" : "missing", "lang" : "itc-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Latin", "term" : "-ālis", "lang" : "la" } ], "keyword" : "bor" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Old French", "term" : "-al", "lang" : "fro" }, { "id" : "adjective", "children" : [ { "terms" : [ { "is_duplicate" : true, "children" : [ ], "id" : "adjectivizing suffix", "status" : { "1" : "la", "2" : ":inh", "3" : "itc-pro:*-ālis", "id" : "adjectivizing suffix", "title" : "-ālis", "pos" : "suffix" }, "lang_name" : "Latin", "term" : "-ālis", "lang" : "la" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Old French", "term" : "-el", "lang" : "fro" }, { "is_duplicate" : true, "children" : [ ], "id" : "adjectivizing suffix", "status" : { "1" : "la", "2" : ":inh", "3" : "itc-pro:*-ālis", "id" : "adjectivizing suffix", "title" : "-ālis", "pos" : "suffix" }, "lang_name" : "Latin", "term" : "-ālis", "lang" : "la" } ], "keyword" : "bor" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Middle English", "term" : "-al", "lang" : "enm" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "-al", "lang" : "en" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "is_group" : true, "keyword" : "affix" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "surprisal", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" }" data-lang="en" data-title="surprisal"> From surprise + -al., {{sense|information measure}} (information measure): Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} surprisal (countable and uncountable, plural surprisals)
  1. (obsolete, military) A surprise attack or ambush; a sudden or unexpected assault. Tags: countable, obsolete, uncountable
    Sense id: en-surprisal-en-noun-oz2rdvdb Categories (other): Military, English terms suffixed with -al (nominal) Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -al (nominal): 16 11 21 25 27 Topics: government, military, politics, war
  2. (obsolete) A sudden coming-upon someone or something unexpectedly or unawares. Tags: countable, obsolete, uncountable
    Sense id: en-surprisal-en-noun-PKzFLIgG Categories (other): English terms suffixed with -al (nominal) Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -al (nominal): 16 11 21 25 27
  3. (obsolete) A surprising event or occurrence. Tags: countable, obsolete, uncountable
    Sense id: en-surprisal-en-noun-BL7l3owN Categories (other): English terms suffixed with -al (nominal) Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -al (nominal): 16 11 21 25 27
  4. (obsolete) The feeling caused by being surprised; surprise, shock, amazement. Tags: countable, obsolete, uncountable
    Sense id: en-surprisal-en-noun-z4a6iok3 Categories (other): English terms suffixed with -al (nominal) Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -al (nominal): 16 11 21 25 27
  5. An information measure as equal in bits (binary digits) to the base-2 log of 1 over the probability, with the result that the number of choices equals 2ⁿ where n is the number of bits. Tags: countable, uncountable Synonyms: Shannon information
    Sense id: en-surprisal-en-noun-S7b9JfMk Categories (other): English entries referencing missing etymons, English entries with etymology texts, English entries with etymology trees, English entries with etymon, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -al (nominal), Pages using etymon with no ID, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Pages with etymology trees, Pages with etymon Disambiguation of English entries referencing missing etymons: 9 7 10 26 48 Disambiguation of English entries with etymology texts: 10 7 15 25 44 Disambiguation of English entries with etymology trees: 10 7 15 25 44 Disambiguation of English entries with etymon: 9 7 8 27 49 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 5 3 5 26 61 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -al (nominal): 16 11 21 25 27 Disambiguation of Pages using etymon with no ID: 10 7 9 26 48 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 5 3 4 26 62 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 5 3 4 27 61 Disambiguation of Pages with etymology trees: 10 7 15 22 46 Disambiguation of Pages with etymon: 9 7 8 24 52

Inflected forms

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    },
    {
      "attestations": [
        {
          "date": "17th–19th c.",
          "references": []
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English terms with obsolete senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A surprising event or occurrence."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "surprising",
          "surprising"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) A surprising event or occurrence."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "obsolete",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "attestations": [
        {
          "date": "17th–19th c.",
          "references": []
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English terms with obsolete senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The feeling caused by being surprised; surprise, shock, amazement."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "surprise",
          "surprise"
        ],
        [
          "shock",
          "shock"
        ],
        [
          "amazement",
          "amazement"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) The feeling caused by being surprised; surprise, shock, amazement."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "obsolete",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              217,
              226
            ],
            [
              228,
              237
            ],
            [
              315,
              324
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2025, Edward A. F. Gibson, “Preliminaries: Components of Language Structure” (chapter 2), in Syntax: A Cognitive Approach, MIT Press, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 23–24:",
          "text": "Because language is produced and processed over time, we get it bit by bit. This allows a measure of the goodness of an incoming word according to how expected it was, given the preceding context: its expectedness or surprisal. Surprisal and expectedness are inverses: When an incoming word is highly expected, its surprisal is close to zero.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An information measure as equal in bits (binary digits) to the base-2 log of 1 over the probability, with the result that the number of choices equals 2ⁿ where n is the number of bits."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "bit",
          "bit"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "Shannon information"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/sə(ɹ)ˈpɹaɪzəl/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "surprisal"
}

Download raw JSONL data for surprisal meaning in English (7.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (d6fca27 and 65e1673). 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.