▪ I. nasal, n.
(ˈneɪzəl)
Also 7 nazal.
[In sense 1, a. OF. nasal, var. nasel nasel; in sense 2, ad. med.L. nāsāle; otherwise a subst. use of next.]
1. A nose-piece on a helmet. Cf. nasel.
| 1480 Caxton Ovid's Met. xii. xiv, Hector toke hym thenne by the nasal and drewe the helme over hys heed. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Nazal, the Nose-piece of a Helmet. 1828–41 Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 320 The head, which is protected with a conical steel cap and a nasal. 1834 J. R. Planché Brit. Costume 46 The Danish helmet, like the Saxon, had the nasal. 1869 Boutell Arms & Armour ix. 161 Iron hats..broad-brimmed and provided with a nasal. |
† 2. = errhine 1 and 2. Obs. rare.
| 1601 Holland Pliny Explan. Words, Nasals be Nose⁓tents. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. v. i. iv, Sneezing, masticatories, and nasals are generally received. 1632 tr. Bruel's Praxis Med. 7 A nasal or errhine of..Pepper-wort. |
3. A nasal letter or sound.
| 1669 Holder Elem. Speech 59 In attempting to pronounce these two Consonants, as likewise the Nasals, and some of the vowels. 1773 W. Kenrick Dict., Gram. ii. 4 All the mute consonants which are silent before a vowel, and gutturals, nasals or palatines after it. a 1794 Sir W. Jones Orthogr. Asiat. Words Wks. 1799 I. 185 The liquid nasal follows these, being formed by the tongue and roots of the teeth, with..assistance from the other organ. 1844 Proc. Philol. Soc. I. 287 Although the Dutch rejects the nasal in the nominative. 1867 Ellis E.E. Pronunc. i. iii. 67 We know how the present English stumble over the French nasals. |
4. Anat. A nasal bone.
| 1854 Owen in Orr's Circ. Sci. II. 53/1 The neural spine is usually single, sometimes cleft along the middle; it is the ‘nasal’. 1873 Mivart Elem. Anat. 85 The nasals are small bones placed side by side above the nares. |
▪ II. nasal, a.
(ˈneɪzəl)
Also 8 nazal.
[ad. med.L. *nāsāl-is (cf. It. nasale, Sp. nasál, F. nasal), f. nās-us nose: see -al1.]
1. Of, belonging or pertaining to, the nose.
Freq. in a large number of anatomical terms, as nasal artery, nasal bone, nasal cartilage, nasal duct, etc.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr. s.v. Vein, Nasal vein, the nose vein, seated between the nostrils. 1726 Monro Anat. Bones 89 Its nasal Process is connected to the nasal Lamella ossis ethmoidis. Ibid. 134 The nasal Bones are firm and solid. 1768 Parsons in Phil. Trans. LVIII. 194 There does not appear any passage..but the mouth and nasal holes. 1826 S. Cooper First Lines Surg. (ed. 5) 319 Whenever the tears cannot pass freely through the nasal duct into the nose. 1855 Holden Hum. Osteol. (1878) 131 The nasal fossæ open widely to the air in front through the nostrils. 1893 Allen Handbk. Local Therap. 113 The use of this agent, in the treatment of chronic nasal catarrh. |
b. Of appliances: Used in connexion with the nose (see quots.).
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1512/2 Nasal Irrigator, a syringe for nasal douches. Ibid., Nasal Speculum, an instrument for distending the nostrils to expose the mucous membrane of the nose. 1895 Arnold's Surg. Instr. Catal. 214 Nasal Truss..for correcting deformities of the Nose. |
2. Of speech-sounds: Produced, to a greater or less degree, by means of the nose.
| 1669 Holder Elem. Speech 45 There are but 3 Nasal Letters commonly in use. 1727–38 Chambers Cycl. s.v. N, The N is a nasal consonant. 1776 Burney Hist. Mus. (1789) II. iv. 309 Why the French language should have so many nazal endings. 1855 D. Forbes Hindust. Gram. 6 At the end of a word..it generally has a nasal sound, like the French n. 1888 King & Cookson Sounds & Inflexions 105 The existence of nasal sonants is therefore a matter of hypothesis. 1890 H. Sweet Primer Spoken Eng. 1 In nasal sounds, such as m, the passage into the nose is left open. |
b. Characterized by the presence, to an unusual or disagreeable extent, of sounds produced by means of the nose.
| 1669 Holder Elem. Speech 59 Some Nations may be found to have a peculiar Guttural or Nasal smatch in their Language. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 436 Odious as a nasal twang Heard at conventicle. 1805 N. Nicholls in Corr. w. Gray (1843) 40 Mason replied instantly, in a surly, nasal tone. 1869 H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 253 The nasal character of the ecclesiastical music of that period. 1883 G. W. Curtis in Harper's Mag. Dec. 13/2 They..worshipped God in ice-cold barns and with endless nasal prayers. |
| Comb. 1804 Southey in Ann. Rev. II. 528 The shibboleth of our nasal-twanged neighbour. 1894 ‘Max O'Rell’ J. Bull & Co. 37 Half a dozen Samoans were joining in with their cracked nasal-sounding voices. |
c. Used with reference to snoring.
| 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. I. 8 The nasal communications of two or three..who, having been silent while awake, were..indemnifying the company in their sleep. 1884 Pae Eustace 105 Certain vigorous nasal sounds gave token that he was in a deep slumber. |
3. Received through the nose.
| 1832 G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 363, I had no nasal perception of any mephitic exhalation. |
4. Provided with a nose-piece.
| 1824 Meyrick Anc. Armour I. 26 He wears a nasal helmet, and a hauberk with tight sleeves. |
Hence ˈnasalism = nasality. rare—1.
| 1883 O. Wilde in South. Times 6 Oct. 4/2 The nasalism of the modern American had been retained from the Puritan Fathers. 1887 Proc. R. Soc. Edin. XXXII. 349 The Yankee nasalism is another familiar instance of the same kind. 1937 Evening News 23 Mar. 4/2 ‘We just dote on a good English accent,’ she said, ‘and we've got to get away from nasalism, our teacher says.’ |