CARNAL


Meaning of CARNAL in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ ˈkär-n ə l ]

adjective

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French or Late Latin; Anglo-French carnel, charnel, from Late Latin carnalis, from Latin carn-, caro flesh; akin to Greek keirein to cut — more at shear

Date: 14th century

1.

a. : relating to or given to crude bodily pleasures and appetites

b. : marked by sexuality

carnal love

2. : bodily , corporeal

seen with carnal eyes

3.

a. : temporal

carnal weapons

b. : worldly

a carnal mind

• car·nal·i·ty kär-ˈna-lə-tē noun

• car·nal·ly ˈkär-nə-lē adverb

Synonyms:

carnal , fleshly , sensual , animal mean having a relation to the body. carnal may mean only this but more often connotes derogatorily an action or manifestation of a person's lower nature

a slave to carnal desires

fleshly is less derogatory than carnal

a saint who had experienced fleshly temptations

sensual may apply to any gratification of a bodily desire or pleasure but commonly implies sexual appetite with absence of the spiritual or intellectual

fleshpots providing sensual delights

animal stresses the physical as distinguished from the rational nature of a person

led a mindless animal existence

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.