fungal

Etymology

It is formed from English fungus + -al, originally after New Latin Fungales, the name of a group of fungi used by Lindley in 1833.^[2][3] Etymonline and Dictionary.com derive it from fungālis,^[4][5] and Merriam-Webster from Fungales.^[6][7] Its base, fungus, is from Latin fungus (“mushroom, fungus”), which Etymonline thinks related to the Greek word for sponge.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to a fungus: 1835.^[8][4][6] The 1989 OED's first record is Lindley's name Fungal Alliance for the fungi;^[8] the revised OED dates the noun to 1836 and the adjective to 1842.^[2] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1825–35.^[5]

Semantic evolution

English earlier had the adjective fungic, from 1804, and the OED also compares fungous.^[4][2] The noun, a fungus, is dated to 1845 by Etymonline and the 1989 OED, but to 1836 by the revised OED, which notes that it later also meant a fungal pathogen or infection and is now rare.^[4][8][2] In current use the adjective often describes things caused by fungi, such as diseases and infections.^[9][6][10]

Timeline

• 1835 – of or relating to fungi, in the name Fungal Alliance.^[8][4][6] The revised OED dates the adjective to 1842.^[2]
• 1836 – noun, a fungus (now rare).^[2] Etymonline and the 1989 OED date the noun to 1845.^[4][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to, or resembling a fungus or fungi: fungal spores.^{[9][6][10][3]}
2. Caused by a fungus: a fungal infection of the toenails.^[9][6][10]

Noun

1. (rare) A fungus.^[2][3][7]

Related words

• fungus
• fungous
• fungicide
• sponge

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins