Bengal

//bɛŋˈɡɔːl// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A short-haired domestic cat of a particular breed that originated in the United States.
  2. 2
    A player on the team The Cincinnati Bengals.

    "Jones became a Bengal in a trade for Smith."

  3. 3
    A Bengal tiger.
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A geographic region in the northeast of South Asia today divided between Bangladesh and India (particularly the state of West Bengal).

Synonyms

All synonyms
banglabengal catbengal cat

Example

More examples

"When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery."

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese Bengala, from Classical Persian بَنْگَالَه (bangāla), from Middle Bengali বাঙ্গালা (baṅgala), said to be from the Vanga Kingdom, of uncertain ultimate origin. Vangalam has been attested in medieval South India. Doublet of Bangla.

Related phrases

Bay of BengalBengal TigersBengal babbleBengal babblerBengal fireBengal foxBengal isinglassBengal lightBengal matchBengal roseBengal studiesBengal tiger

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.