Baal

See also: baal, bål, ba’al, Baʿal, and Ba'al

English

Alternative forms

• Baʿal, Ba'al

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Late Latin Baal (as in the Vulgate) and (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek Βάαλ (Báal), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Hebrew בעל (Ba‘al, "Baal", and ba‘al, "lord, husband"), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Semitic *baʿl- (“owner, lord, husband”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbeɪəl/, /ˈbeɪl/, /ˈbɑːl/
• IPA^(key): /ˈbeɪəl/, /ˈbeɪl/, /ˈbɑːl/, /bɑːˈɑːl/
• Rhymes: -eɪəl, -eɪl, -ɑːl
• Homophones: bail, bale; boll (some US speakers); ball, bawl (some US speakers)

Proper noun

Baal (countable and uncountable, plural Baals or Baalim)

1. (mythology, biblical) A storm and fertility god of the Phoenician and Canaanite pantheons, reckoned as chief of the gods by the 1st millennium BC.
2. (mythology, biblical, sometimes lowercase) Various other Baalim, understood as distinct patron gods or as local patron aspects the great god Baal.
3. (Christianity) One of the demons or fallen angels of Satan.
4. (often lowercase) A false deity or idol; (obsolete, derogatory) Catholic or Orthodox icons of the saints.

Usage notes

The latinized spelling and anglicized pronunciation is still used for the expanded senses, but modern scholarship increasingly notes the ayin of the original name by spelling it Baʿal or Ba'al and pronouncing it more in line with the original Hebrew form. Misunderstood as a solar deity by 19th century scholarship; misunderstood as a collective term for various patron gods by 19th and 20th century scholarship prior to the discovery of inscriptions at Ugarit showing these to have been understood as aspects of a single divinity, whose worship gradually supplanted that of El. These aspects are sometimes distinguished by epithets: Baalberith, Beelzebub, Beelzebul, etc.

The Hebraic plural Baalim is particularly used for its appearances in the Bible, where it may refer to gods or idols of the god. The anglicized plural is more common in other contexts.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• Baal-gad
• Baalism, Baalist

• Baalite
• Baalzebub

Related terms

• Bel
• Beelzebub, Beelzebul
• Baal-Shem-Tov

Translations

deity

• Arabic: بَعْل (ar) m (baʕl)
• Aramaic: בעל (bʾl)
• Esperanto: Baalo
• German: Baal (de) m
• Greek: Βάαλ (el) m (Váal)

  Ancient: Βαάλ m (Baál)

• Hebrew: בעל (he) (Ba'al)
• Japanese: バアル (Baaru), バール (ja) (Bāru)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 바알 (Baal)
• Maore Comorian: Ɓaali
• Persian: بعل (fa) (ba'l)
• Portuguese: Baal (pt) m
• Russian: Ваа́л (ru) m (Vaál)
• Thai: บาอัล

Anagrams

• AABL, Bala, LABA, alba, blaa, laab

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Italian

Proper noun

Baal m

1. Baal

Anagrams

• alba

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Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Βάαλ (Báal), from Hebrew בַּעַל (báʿal), from Proto-Semitic *baʿl-.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈba.al/, [ˈbäːɫ̪]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈba.al/, [ˈbäːäl]

Proper noun

Baal m (indeclinable)

1. Baal

Anagrams

• alba