I. ˈnāzəl noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French nasal, nasel, from Old French, from nes nose, from Latin nasus — more at nose
1. : a part of a helmet serving as a guard for the nose — called also nosepiece
2. : a part near or entering into the structure of the nose (as a nasal bone or scale)
3. : a nasal consonant or vowel
II. adjective
Etymology: French, from Latin nasus nose + French -al (adjective suffix)
1.
a. : of or relating to the nose
nasal inflammation
b. : of or relating to a plate or scale through or by which the nostril opens (as in various reptiles)
2.
a. : uttered with the nose passage open by reason of a lowered velum and with the mouth passage occluded at some point (as at the lips in m, the tongue tip in n, or the tongue back in ŋ
b.
(1) : uttered with the mouth open, with the velum lowered, and with the nose passage producing a phonemically essential resonance — used of a vowel as in French and Portuguese
(2) : uttered by some speakers with purely oral resonance (as in English) : uttered with the mouth open, with the velum at least partly open, and with the nose passage producing a phonemically nonessential resonance objectionable to some listeners — used of a vowel or a continuant
c. : containing or using sounds that are nasal or that are made through the nose — used of speech or a speaker
3. of a musical tone : having a quality characteristically sharp and penetrating and lacking in resonance ; especially : having a predominance of upper partials