Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
phial. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
phial, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
phial in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
phial you have here. The definition of the word
phial will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
phial, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
The noun is derived partly:[1]
- from Middle English fiole, phiole, phial (“small bowl or cup for liquids, etc.; flask”) ,[2] from Middle French fiole, phiole , and Old French fiole (modern French fiole), from Late Latin fiola, phiola, from Latin phiala (“broad, flat, shallow bowl or cup”), from Ancient Greek φιάλη (phiálē, “round and shallow bowl, pan, or saucer”), probably from Pre-Greek; and
- directly from Latin phiala (see above).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Doublet of vial.
Pronunciation
Noun
phial (plural phials)
- (dated) A bottle or other vessel for containing a liquid; originally any such vessel, especially one for holding a beverage; now (specifically), a small, narrow glass bottle with a cap used to hold liquid chemicals, medicines, etc.
- Synonyms: flasklet, vial
1649, Jer[emy] Taylor, “Discourse XI. Of the Second Additionall Precept of Christ. (Viz.) Of Prayer.”, in The Great Exemplar of Sanctity and Holy Life According to the Christian Institution. , London: R. N. for Francis Ash, , →OCLC, 2nd part, page 156:[U]nite my prayers to the interceſſion of the holy JESUS, […] that my prayers being hallovved by the merits of CHRIST, and being preſented in the phial of the Saints may aſcent thither, vvhere thy glory dvvells, and from vvhence mercy, and eternall benediction deſcends upon thy Church.
1682, Robert Boyle, “A Continuation of New Experiments Physico-Mechanical, Touching the Spring and Weight of the Air, and Their Effects. The Second Part. . Iconisme III. How Factitious Air may be Transmitted out of One Receiver into Another.”, in The Works of the Honourable Robert Boyle. , volume IV, London: A Millar, , published 1744, →OCLC, page 103, column 2:AA Is a glaſs phial filled vvith mercury to the ſuperficies DD, or thereabout.
1742, [Edward Young], “Night the First. On Life, Death, and Immortality. ”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality, London: [Samuel Richardson] for A Millar , and R Dodsley , published 1750, →OCLC, page 7:Nor let the Phial of thy Vengeance, pour'd / On this devoted Head, be pour'd in vain.
1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter V, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. , volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., , →OCLC, page 127:You must open the middle drawer of my toilet-table and take out a little phial and a little glass you will find there,—quick! […] He held out the tiny glass, and I half filled it from the water bottle on the wash-stand. / “That will do:—now wet the lip of the phial.” / I did so: he measured twelve drops of a crimson liquid, and presented it to Mason. / “Drink, Richard: it will give you the heart you lack, for an hour or so.”
1881, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “‘Retro Me, Sathana!’”, in Ballads and Sonnets, London: Ellis and White, , →OCLC, page 252:Thou still, upon the broad vine-sheltered path, / Mayst wait the turning of the phials of wrath / For certain years, for certain months and days.
1921 May 20, [Warren Harding], Remarks of the President in Presenting to Madam Curie a Gift of Radium from the American People , Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 4:In testimony of the affection of the American people, of their confidence in your [Marie Curie's] scientific work, and of their earnest wish that your genius and energy may receive all encouragement to carry forward your efforts for the advance of science and conquest of disease, I have been commissioned to present to you this little phial of radium.
Usage notes
The word vial is now more commonly used than phial.
Hyponyms
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Translations
bottle or other vessel for containing a liquid
— see vial
Verb
phial (third-person singular simple present phials, present participle phialling or (US) phialing, simple past and past participle phialled or (US) phialed)
- (transitive) To keep or put (something, especially a liquid) in, or as if in, a phial.
- Synonym: vial
Translations
to keep or put (something) in, or as if in, a phial
— see vial
References
- ^ “phial, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “phial, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ “fīōle, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Further reading
Anagrams
Middle English
Noun
phial
- Alternative form of fiole