Abel

See also: abel, Ábel, Abèl, -abel, abel-, and abel'

English

William Adolphe Bouguereau's The First Mourning (1888)

Etymology

From Middle English Abel, from Old English Ābel, from Latin Abel, from Ancient Greek Ἅβελ (Hábel), from Biblical Hebrew הֶבֶל (Héḇel, “Abel”), possibly from the homonymous word הֶבֶל (heḇel, “breath, vapor; vanity”) or from Akkadian 𒌉𒍑 (ablu, “son”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeɪ.bl̩/
• Homophone: able

Proper noun

Abel

2. (biblical) The son of Adam and Eve who was killed by his brother Cain.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 4:8:

     And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

3. A male given name from Hebrew.
4. A surname originating as a patronymic.

Derived terms

• Abelian
• abelian
• Abelite
• abelite
• Abel-Jacobi-Liouville identity
• Abel-Jacobi map
• Abel-Plana formula
• Abel-Ruffini theorem
• Abel's formula
• Abel's identity
• Abel's impossibility theorem
• Abel's irreducibility theorem
• Abelson
• Abel's summation formula
• Abel's theorem

 

Translations

son of Adam and Eve

• Arabic: هَابِيل m (hābīl)
• Aramaic:

  Hebrew: הבל (heḇel)

  Syriac: ܗܒܝܠ

• Armenian: Աբել (Abel)
• Basque: Abel (eu)
• Belarusian: А́вель m (Ávjelʹ)
• Bengali: হাবীল (habīl)
• Bulgarian: А́вел m (Ável)
• Catalan: Abel (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 亞伯／亚伯 (aa³ baak³), 亞伯爾／亚伯尔 (aa³ baak³ ji⁵) (Catholic)

  Mandarin: 亞伯／亚伯 (zh) (Yàbó), 亞伯爾／亚伯尔 (Yàbó'ěr) (Catholic)

• Czech: Ábel (cs) m
• Danish: Abel
• Dutch: Abel (nl) m
• Esperanto: Habelo
• Estonian: Aabel (et)
• Ewe: Habel
• Finnish: Abel
• French: Abel (fr) m
• Georgian: აბელი (abeli)
• German: Abel (de) m
• Greek: Άβελ (el) m (Ável)

  Ancient: Ἅβελ m (Hábel)

• Hawaiian: ʻAbela
• Hebrew: הֶבֶל (he) m (hevel)
• Italian: Abele (it)
• Japanese: アベル (Aberu)
• Kazakh: Әбіл (Äbıl)
• Korean: 아벨 (Abel)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: Habîl (ku) m

• Latin: Abelus m
• Macedonian: Авел m (Avel)
• Malay: Habil (used by Muslims), Habel (used by Christians)
• Maltese: Abel
• Ngazidja Comorian: Habila
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Abel m

• Occitan: Abel
• Persian: هابیل (fa) (hâbil)
• Polish: Abel (pl) m
• Portuguese: Abel (pt)
• Russian: А́вель (ru) m (Ávelʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Авељ, Абел

  Roman: Avelj, Abel

• Slovak: Ábel (sk) m
• Slovene: Abel m, Abel m
• Spanish: Abel (es) m
• Swedish: Abel (sv)
• Telugu: హెబెల్ (hebel)
• Turkish: Habil (tr)
• Ukrainian: А́вель m (Ávelʹ)
• Vietnamese: A-bên

male given name

• Bengali: হাবীল (habīl)
• Breton: Avel, Avelig
• Catalan: Abel (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 阿貝爾／阿贝尔 (aa³ bui³ ji⁵), 亞伯／亚伯 (aa³ baak³)

  Mandarin: 阿貝爾／阿贝尔 (zh) (Ābèi'ěr), 亞伯／亚伯 (zh) (Yàbó)

• Danish: Abel
• Dutch: Abel (nl) m
• Ewe: Habel
• Faroese: Ábal
• Finnish: Aapeli (fi)
• French: Abel (fr) m
• Galician: Abel (gl)
• German: Abel (de) m
• Hawaiian: ʻApela
• Japanese: アベル (Aberu)
• Korean: 아벨 (abel)
• Malay: Habil
• Norwegian: Abel
• Polish: Abel (pl) m
• Portuguese: Abel (pt) m
• Russian: Э́йбел m (Éjbel) (transliteration)
• Spanish: Abel (es) m
• Swedish: Abel (sv)
• West Frisian: Abe (fy)

See also

• Cain

Anagrams

• -able, Able, Bale, Beal, Blea, Ebla, Elba, able, albe, bael, bale, beal, blea

Dutch

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek Ἅβελ (Hábel), from Biblical Hebrew הֶבֶל (hével).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaː.bəl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Abel
• Rhymes: -aːbəl

Proper noun

Abel m

1. Abel (Biblical character)
2. a male given name of biblical origin

Related terms

• diminutives: Abeltje, Abe

Anagrams

• bale

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.bɛl/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

Proper noun

Abel m

1. Abel (biblical character)
2. a diminutive of the male given names Abeau or Abelin

Anagrams

• able, Bâle, béal, bêla

Icelandic

Proper noun

Abel m (proper noun, genitive singular Abels)

1. a male given name

Declension

Declension of Abel (sg-only masculine)

indefinite singular
nominative	Abel
accusative	Abel
dative	Abel
genitive	Abels

Latin

Alternative forms

• Abēlus
• Habel (more precise borrowing from Greek)

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἅβελ (Hábel), itself from Biblical Hebrew הֶ֫בֶל (heḇel). The vowel, while short by etymology, is shown to be carrying stress by the descended Italian Abele and Spanish Abel.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈa.beːl/, [ˈäbeːɫ̪] or IPA^(key): /ˈa.bel/, [ˈäbɛɫ̪]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.bel/, [ˈäːbel]

Proper noun

Abē̆l m sg (variously declined, genitive Abē̆lis or Abē̆l); indeclinable, third declension

1. (biblical) Abel
2. a male given name

Declension

Third-declension noun or indeclinable noun, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Abē̆l
genitive	Abē̆lis Abē̆l
dative	Abē̆lī Abē̆l
accusative	Abē̆lem Abē̆l
ablative	Abē̆le Abē̆l
vocative	Abē̆l

Descendants

• → Old English: Abel
  • English: Abel

Old English

Etymology

From Latin Abel, from Ancient Greek Ἅβελ (Hábel), from Hebrew הֶ֫בֶל

Proper noun

Abel m

1. (biblical) Abel, the brother of Cain and the first murder victim

Descendants

• English: Abel

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin Abel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.bɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -abɛl
• Syllabification: A‧bel

Proper noun

Abel m pers

1. (biblical) Abel (son of Adam and Eve)
2. a male given name, equivalent to English Abel

Declension

Declension of Abel

	singular	plural
nominative	Abel	Able/Ablowie
genitive	Abla	Abli
dative	Ablowi	Ablom
accusative	Abla	Abli
instrumental	Ablem	Ablami
locative	Ablu	Ablach
vocative	Ablu	Able/Ablowie

Further reading

• Abel in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese Abel, from Latin Abel, from Ancient Greek Ἅβελ (Hábel), from Hebrew הֶ֫בֶל.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aˈbɛw/ [aˈbɛʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈbɛl/ [ɐˈβɛɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈbɛl/ [ɐˈβɛɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈbɛ.li/ [ɐˈβɛ.li]

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɛl, (Brazil) -ɛw
• Hyphenation: A‧bel

Proper noun

Abel m (plural Abéis)

1. (biblical) Abel (son of Adam and Eve)
2. a male given name, equivalent to English Abel

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἅβελ (Hábel), from Hebrew הבל (Hebel).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ǎːbel/
• Hyphenation: A‧bel

Proper noun

Ábel m (Cyrillic spelling А́бел)

1. Abel (son of Adam and Eve)
2. a male given name

Declension

Declension of Abel

	singular	plural
nominative	Abel	-
genitive	Abela	-
dative	Abelu	-
accusative	Abela	-
vocative	Abele	-
locative	Abelom	-
instrumental	Abelu	-

See also

• Avelj

Further reading

• “Abel”, in Portal suvremenih hrvatskih osobnih imena [Portal of contemporary Croatian personal names] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2018–2024

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈbel/ [aˈβ̞el]
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: A‧bel

Proper noun

Abel m

1. (biblical) Abel
   • 1602, La Santa Biblia (antigua versión de Casiodoro de Reina), Génesis 4:8:

     Y habló Caín á su hermano Abel: y aconteció que estando ellos en el campo, Caín se levantó contra su hermano Abel, y le mató.

     And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

     (KJV)

2. a male given name, equivalent to English Abel

Related terms

• diminutive: Abelito

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish Abel, from Latin Abel, from Ancient Greek Ἅβελ (Hábel), from Biblical Hebrew הֶבֶל (heḇel, “breath, vapor; vanity”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔaˈbel/ [ʔɐˈbɛl]
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: A‧bel

Proper noun

Abél (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜊᜒᜎ᜔)

1. (biblical) Abel
2. a male given name from Spanish, equivalent to English Abel

Further reading

• “Abel”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018