rial

1 of 6

noun (1)

ri·​al rē-ˈȯl 

-ˈäl

variants or less commonly riyal

: the basic monetary unit of Iran, Oman, and Yemen see Money Table

rial

2 of 6

noun (2)

ri·​al

less common spelling of riyal

: the basic monetary unit of Qatar and Saudi Arabia see Money Table

riyal

3 of 6

noun (3)

ri·​yal rē-ˈyäl 

-ˈyal

variants or less commonly rial

: the basic monetary unit of Qatar and Saudi Arabia see Money Table

riyal

4 of 6

noun (4)

ri·​yal

less common spelling of rial

: the basic monetary unit of Iran, Oman, and Yemen see Money Table

ryal

5 of 6

noun (5)

ry·​al

variants or less commonly rial

ˈrī(ə)l 

plural -s

1

: rose noble

2

: one of two Scottish coins:

a

: a gold coin equivalent to 60 shillings or 3 pounds issued by Mary Queen of Scots (16th century)

b

: a silver coin worth 30 shillings issued by Mary and James VI (16th and 17th centuries)

3

: a monetary unit of Zanzibar used until 1908 and equal to 136 pysa

ryal

6 of 6

variant spelling of real

Examples of rial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Mohammad Mohammadi, 36, said a trip to the supermarket can burn through half a monthly mid-range salary of 400 million rials (roughly $150). — ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026

Mohammad Mohammadi, 36, said a trip to the supermarket can burn through half a monthly mid-range salary of 400 million rials — roughly $215. — Amir-Hussein Radjy, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026

Noun

Prize money has quadrupled since the Saudi Women’s Premier League launched in 2022, and Riyadh’s Al-Nassr club took home 2 million riyals ($531,000) for last season’s title. — semafor.com, 23 Oct. 2026

For a roughly 6 to 7 percent fee on the transaction, some Azerbaijani banks will accept a transfer from a client who wishes to move Saudi riyals or Emirati dirhams totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. — Matthew Cole, Vanity Fair, 22 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Persian, from Arabic riyāl riyal

Noun (3)

Arabic riyāl, from Spanish real real

Noun (5)

Middle English, from ryal, rial royal

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1930, in the meaning defined above

Noun (3)

1856, in the meaning defined above

Noun (5)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for rial

• denial
• mistrial
• posttrial
• pretrial
• retrial
• dial
• thiol
• trial
• vial
• sensorial