seal

The word “seal” means a marine mammal with flippers that lives partly on land and partly in the sea. In plain terms, three main uses: the flippered sea mammal, an official authenticating stamp, or the act of closing something tightly.

“Seal” is pronounced seel (/siːl/ in IPA).

Here is “seal” used in a sentence: “A colony of seals basked on the rocky shore.”

Depending on how it is used, “seal” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “seal” comes from Latin. From Old English seolh (the animal) and, separately, from Old French seel/Latin sigillum (the stamp sense) — two originally distinct words that now share the same spelling.

“Seal” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.

“Seal” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a marine mammal with flippers that lives partly on land and partly in the sea.

Both are marine mammals with flippers, but true seals lack visible ear flaps and move on land by wriggling on their bellies, while sea lions have small external ears and can walk on their front flippers. Sea lions are also generally noisier and more agile on land.

As an official mark, a 'seal' is a device, or the impression it makes, often pressed into wax or embossed to authenticate a document. A 'stamp' is a broader term for any inked or pressed mark; a seal is a formal type of stamp that certifies authority or genuineness.

The 'seal of approval' is a figurative phrase meaning official endorsement that something meets a required standard. It comes from the literal seal once used to mark a document as approved by an authority.