tropical

English

Alternative forms

• trop. (abbreviation)

Etymology

Etymology tree

English tropic

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālisbor.

Old French -albor.

▲

Latin -ālis

Old French -elbor.

▲

Latin -ālisbor.

Middle English -al

English -al

English tropical

From tropic + -al.

Pronunciation

• (all senses except "characterized by tropes"):
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɒp.ɪ.kəl/

    • Audio (London):

      (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɒpɪkəl
  • (General American, dialects of Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɑ.pɪ.kəl/

    • Audio (California):

      (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɑpɪkəl
  • (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɒp.ɪ.kəl/
  • (Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɔp.ɪ.kəl/
  • (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɒp.ə.kəl/, [ˈtɹɔ̟p.ə.kəl]
• ("characterized by tropes"):
  • IPA^(key): (Received Pronunciation) /ˈtɹəʊ.pɪ.kəl/, /ˈtɹɒp.ɪ.kəl/
  • IPA^(key): (General American) /ˈtɹoʊ.pɪ.kəl/
  • Rhymes: -əʊpɪkəl

Adjective

tropical (comparative more tropical, superlative most tropical)

1. Of or pertaining to the tropics, the equatorial region between 23 degrees north and 23 degrees south.
2. From, or similar to, a hot, humid climate.

   We've had a lot of tropical nights this summer.

   My favorite tropical fruits are pineapples and coconuts.

   • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 103:

     Whale sharks are found in all the tropical waters of the world. As with many tropical species, an occasional stray wanders into colder waters.

3. (dated) Pertaining to, involving, or of the nature of a trope or tropes; figurative, metaphorical.
   • 1653 (indicated as 1654), “The Real Presence and Spiritual of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, Proved against the Doctrine of Transubstantiation. Section I. State of the Question.”, in Reginald Heber, editor, The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. […], volume IX, London: Ogle, Duncan, and Co. […]; and Richard Priestley, […], published 1822, →OCLC, paragraph 8, page 429:

     But we, by the real spiritual presence of Christ, do understand Christ to be present, as the Spirit of God is present in the hearts of the faithful, by blessing and grace; and this is all which we mean besides the tropical and figurative presence.

   • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:

     The foundation of all parables is some analogy or similitude between the tropical or allusive part of the parable and the thing intended by it.

4. (mathematics) Pertaining to tropical geometry.

Derived terms

• Afrotropical
• amphitropical
• antitropical
• boreotropical
• circumtropical
• extratropical
• ex-tropical cyclone
• intertropical
• intratropical
• isotropical
• juxtatropical
• neotropical
• non-tropical
• non-tropical sprue
• palaeotropical
• paleotropical
• pantropical
• paratropical
• post-tropical
• semitropical
• sub-tropical
• subtropical
• supertropical
• tropical almond
• tropical arc
• tropical astrology
• tropical cyclone
• tropical depression
• tropical dial
• tropical disease
• tropical disturbance
• tropical fish
• tropical fruit
• tropical house
• tropicalist
• tropicality
• tropicalization
• tropicalize
• tropically
• tropical milkweed
• tropical month
• tropicalness
• tropical rainforest
• tropical reed
• tropical rock
• tropical splenomegaly syndrome
• tropical sprue
• tropical storm
• tropical sweet potato
• tropical theileriosis
• tropical ulcer
• tropical warehouse moth
• tropical wave
• tropical yam
• tropical year
• tropical zone
• troppo
• ultratropical
• untropical

Translations

of or pertaining to the tropics

• Arabic: مَدَارِيّ (madāriyy)
• Armenian: արևադարձային (hy) (arewadarjayin)
• Bengali: গ্রীষ্মমণ্ডলীয় (bn) (griśśõmonḍoliẏo)
• Bulgarian: тропически (tropičeski)
• Catalan: tropical (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 熱帶 / 热带 (zh) (rèdài), 回歸線 / 回归线 (zh) (huíguīxiàn)

• Czech: tropický (cs)
• Danish: tropisk (da)
• Finnish: trooppinen (fi)
• French: tropical (fr)
• Friulian: tropicâl
• Galician: tropical (gl)
• German: tropisch (de)
• Greek: τροπικός (el) (tropikós)
• Gujarati: ઉષ્ણકટિબંધીય (uṣṇakṭibandhīya)
• Hebrew: טְרוֹפִּי m (tropi)
• Hindi: उष्णकटिबंधीय (uṣṇakṭibandhīya)
• Hungarian: trópusi (hu), tropikus (hu)
• Icelandic: hitabeltis-
• Indonesian: tropis (id)
• Ingrian: tropiceskoi
• Irish: teochriosach, trópaiceach
• Italian: tropicale (it)
• Japanese: 熱帯 (ja) (ねったい, nettai), 回帰線 (ja) (かきせん, kakisen)
• Kazakh: тропиктік (tropiktık)
• Korean: 열대(熱帶) (ko) (yeoldae)
• Macedonian: тро́пски (trópski)
• Māori: pārūrū
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tropisk

  Nynorsk: tropisk

• Polish: tropikalny (pl), zwrotnikowy (pl)
• Portuguese: tropical (pt)
• Romanian: tropical (ro)
• Russian: тропи́ческий (ru) (tropíčeskij)
• Scottish Gaelic: tropaigeach
• Spanish: tropical (es)
• Swahili: kitropiki (sw)
• Tagalog: alindanga
• Turkish: tropikal (tr)
• Vietnamese: vùng nhiệt đới
• Welsh: trofannol (cy)

from or similar to a hot humid climate

• Arabic: مَدَارِيّ (madāriyy)
• Bengali: গ্রীষ্মমণ্ডলীয় (bn) (griśśõmonḍoliẏo)
• Catalan: tropical (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 熱帶 / 热带 (zh) (rèdài)

• Czech: tropický (cs)
• Danish: tropisk (da)
• Finnish: trooppinen (fi)
• French: tropical (fr)
• German: tropisch (de)
• Greek: τροπικός (el) (tropikós)
• Hindi: उष्णकटिबंधीय (uṣṇakṭibandhīya)
• Hungarian: trópusi (hu), tropikus (hu)
• Ingrian: tropiceskoi
• Irish: teochriosach, trópaiceach
• Italian: tropicale (it)
• Japanese: 熱帯 (ja) (ねったい, nettai)
• Kazakh: тропикалық (tropikalyq), тропиктік (tropiktık)
• Korean: 열대(熱帶) (ko) (yeoldae)
• Macedonian: тро́пски (trópski)
• Māori: pārūrū
• Polish: tropikalny (pl)
• Portuguese: tropical (pt)
• Romanian: tropical (ro)
• Russian: тропи́ческий (ru) (tropíčeskij)
• Scottish Gaelic: tropaigeach
• Spanish: tropical (es)

dated: metaphorical, figurative — see figurative

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} tropisch (nl)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} tropika
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} tropikus (hu)

Noun

tropical (plural tropicals)

1. A tropical plant.
   • 1856, “The Horticulturist and Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1], volume 12, page 275:

     The potato, as a mountain tropical plant, is capable of growing in cooler weather than any other tropical except the Nasturtian.

Translations

tropical plant

• Polish: roślina tropikalna f

Further reading

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “tropical”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “tropical”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “tropical”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• pictoral, proictal

Catalan

Etymology

From tròpic +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [tɾu.piˈkal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia, Northwestern) [tɾo.piˈkal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

tropical m or f (masculine and feminine plural tropicals)

1. tropical

Further reading

• “tropical”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

French

Etymology

From tropique +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʁɔ.pi.kal/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

tropical (feminine tropicale, masculine plural tropicaux, feminine plural tropicales)

1. (relational) of the tropics; tropical

   forêt tropicale ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (figuratively) scorching

   Synonym: caniculaire

Descendants

• → Romanian: tropical
• → Turkish: tropikal

See also

• équatorial

Further reading

• “tropical”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɾɔpiˈkal/ [t̪ɾɔ.piˈkɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: tro‧pi‧cal

Adjective

tropical m or f (plural tropicais)

1. tropical

Further reading

• “tropical”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /trupiˈkal/

Adjective

tropical

1. tropical

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /tɾo.piˈkaw/ [tɾo.piˈkaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tɾu.piˈkal/ [tɾu.piˈkaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tɾu.piˈkal/ [tɾu.piˈkaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /tɾu.piˈka.li/

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: tro‧pi‧cal

Adjective

tropical m or f (plural tropicais)

1. tropical (of or relating to the tropics)
2. tropical (from or similar to a hod humid climate)

Further reading

• “tropical”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “tropical” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “tropical”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French tropical. By surface analysis, tropic +‎ -al.

Adjective

tropical m or n (feminine singular tropicală, masculine plural tropicali, feminine/neuter plural tropicale)

1. tropical

Declension

Declension of tropical

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	tropical		tropicală	tropicali	tropicale
	definite	tropicalul		tropicala	tropicalii	tropicalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	tropical		tropicale	tropicali	tropicale
	definite	tropicalului		tropicalei	tropicalilor	tropicalelor

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Spanish trópico

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Spanish -al

Spanish tropical

From trópico + -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɾopiˈkal/ [t̪ɾo.piˈkal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: tro‧pi‧cal

Adjective

tropical m or f (masculine and feminine plural tropicales)

1. tropical

Derived terms

• geometría tropical
• tropicalmente

Further reading

• “tropical”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025