aval

English

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd

Proto-Italic *ad

Latin ad

Old French a

French àabbr.?

French valoirabbr.?

French avalbor.

English aval

Borrowed from French aval.

Noun

aval (plural avals)

1. (finance, law) A financial guarantee by a third party to assume the burden of a debt, especially a bill of exchange in the event of default.

Translations

financial guarantee

• Bulgarian: авал m (aval)
• Esperanto: avalo
• Finnish: vekselitakaus, avaali
• Ido: avalo (io)
• Kazakh: аваль (avalʹ), кепілхат (kepilxat)
• Polish: awal (pl) m
• Spanish: aval (es) m, satisdación (es) f, fianza (es) f
• Thai: อาวัล (aa-wan)

References

• aval, in Investopedia.

Etymology 2

From Latin avus (“grandfather”) +‎ -al.

Adjective

aval (not comparable)

1. (rare) Of, related to, or characteristic of a grandparent.
   • 1973, Wilfred T. Neill, Twentieth-Century Indonesia, Columbia University Press, published 1973, →ISBN, page 299:

     Sosrodihardjo found it hard to support his children, and the young Sukarno was sent to stay with his grandmother […] Believing that the boy had supernatural powers of healing, she put him to licking the afflicted parts of ailing villagers, and decided that he would be a clairvoyant. But alas for aval ambitions; Sukarno turned out to be a visionary of quite a different sort.

Synonyms

• grandparental

Hyponyms

• (grandfather): grandfatherly, grandpaternal
• (grandmother): grandmaternal, grandmotherly

Etymology 3

From Malayalam അവൽ (aval) or Tamil அவல் (aval).

Noun

aval (uncountable)

1. Synonym of flattened rice.

Anagrams

• Alva, Lava, Vaal, lava

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *aβal, from Proto-Celtic *abūl, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ébōl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑː.val/

Noun

aval m (plural avaloù)

1. apple

Related terms

• avalenn

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from French aval.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [əˈβal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əˈval]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aˈval]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [aˈβal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

aval m (plural avals)

1. endorsement

Further reading

• “aval”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “aval”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026

Cornish

Aval

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *aβal, from Proto-Celtic *abūl, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ébōl. Cognate with Breton aval, Irish úll, Manx ooyl, Scottish Gaelic ubhal, and Welsh afal.

Pronunciation

• (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA^(key): [ˈaval]
• (Revived Late Cornish) IPA^(key): [ˈævɐl]

Noun

aval m (plural avalow or lavalow)

1. apple

Derived terms

• aval briansen (“larynx”)
• aval dor (“potato”)
• aval dor brewys (“mashed potato”)
• aval goodh (“crabapple, wild apple”)
• aval gwlanek (“peach”)
• aval kerensa (“tomato”)
• aval lagas (“eyeball”)
• aval paradhis (“grapefruit”)
• aval saben (“pinecone”)
• avalen (“apple tree”)
• avallan (“orchard”)
• avalowa (“gather apples”, verb)
• limaval (“lime”)
• lymmaval (“lemon”)
• owraval (“orange”)
• pinaval (“pineapple”)
• sugen aval (“apple juice”)

Noun

aval (collective, singulative avalen f)

1. apple trees

Derived terms

• aval krabbys (“crabapple”)
• avalennek (“orchard”)

Estonian

Noun

aval

1. adessive singular of ava

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.val/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Hérault)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Saint-Étienne)):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd

Proto-Italic *ad

Latin ad

Old French a

French à

Proto-Indo-European *welH-?

Latin vallis

Old French val

French val

French aval

From à +‎ val.

Noun

aval m (uncountable)

1. downstream area, lower reaches (of river)

Derived terms

• en aval (“downstream”, adjective)

Descendants

• → Romanian: aval

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd

Proto-Italic *ad

Latin ad

Old French a

French àabbr.?

French valoirabbr.?

French aval

Probably an abbreviation of à valoir.

Noun

aval m (plural avals)

1. approval, endorsement

Descendants

• → Catalan: aval
• → English: aval
• → Galician: aval
• → Italian: avallo
• → Portuguese: aval
• → Romanian: aval
• → Russian: ава́ль (aválʹ)
  • → Kazakh: аваль (avalʹ)
• → Spanish: aval
• → Thai: อาวัล (aa-wan)
• → Turkish: aval
• → Ukrainian: ава́ль (aválʹ)

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• lava

Occitan

Etymology

a +‎ val

Pronunciation

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

Adverb

aval

1. down

   Antonym: amont

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French aval, probably from an abbreviation of à valoir.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aˈvaw/ [aˈvaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈval/ [ɐˈvaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈval/ [ɐˈvaɫ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈbal/ [ɐˈβaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈva.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: a‧val

Noun

aval m (plural avais)

1. permit (an artifact or document rendering something allowed or legal)

   Synonyms: permissão, autorização, licença

2. (figurative) authorization, approval

Further reading

• “aval”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈval/
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: a‧val

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French aval (“downstream”), from à (“to”) +‎ val (“valley”).

Noun

aval n (uncountable)

1. downstream (the part located downstream relative to a point)

   Antonym: amonte

   în aval ― downstream (with the flow)

   în aval de ― downstream of, downriver from

   Peștii migrează în aval.

   The fish migrate downriver.

   Budapesta este în aval de Viena.

   Budapest is downriver from Vienna.

   Localitățile din aval au fost afectate de inundații.

   The downriver settlements were affected by floods.

   (literally, “from the downstream”)

   Presiunea din avalul valvei este mai mare decât cea din amonte.

   The pressure downstream of the valve is greater than that from upstream.

   (literally, “from the valve’s downstream”)

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	aval	avalul
genitive-dative	aval	avalului
vocative	avalule

Related terms

• vale

See also

• la vale

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd

Proto-Italic *ad

Latin ad

Old French a

French àabbr.?

French valoirabbr.?

French avalbor.

Romanian aval

Borrowed from French aval (“aval”).

Noun

aval n (plural avaluri)

1. (finance, law) aval

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	aval	avalul	avale	avalele
genitive-dative	aval	avalului	avale	avalelor
vocative	avalule		avalelor

Further reading

• “aval”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd

Proto-Italic *ad

Latin ad

Old French a

French àabbr.?

French valoirabbr.?

French avalbor.

Spanish aval

Borrowed from French aval.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈbal/ [aˈβ̞al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: a‧val

Noun

aval m (plural avales)

1. endorsement

   Synonym: endoso

   • 2024 May 16, Camilo S. Baquero, Marc Rovira, “Junqueras quiere que la militancia avale su aspiración a seguir liderando ERC”, in El País‎^[1], archived from the original on 4 March 2026:

     Oriol Junqueras aspira a llegar al congreso extraordinario de ERC, que se celebrará el 30 de noviembre, con un aval claro de la militancia para repetir como presidente de la formación, pese a haber dejado el cargo el miércoles.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. countersignature
3. guarantee

   Synonym: garantía

Derived terms

• avalar
• avalista

Further reading

• “aval”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025