Bernal

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A Spanish-origin family name carried by several notable historical and modern figures ; a hilltop district of San Francisco known for its views and village feel
2. A surname of Spanish origin borne by various well-known people ; a residential hill neighborhood in the city of San Francisco, California
3. A Spanish family name held by several famous individuals ; a hillside community in San Francisco noted for its panoramic vistas and small-town character

Etymology: "Bernal" is a surname of Spanish origin, and in English it names a feature of physics: the Bernal sphere, a model of a spherical stack of atoms, and the Bernal spiral in molecular structure. Both honour the same man, John Desmond Bernal, a crystallographer whose work made the name a technical term. The surname itself is Spanish, the word being borrowed directly from Spanish "Bernal," a family name that English speakers mostly meet as a proper noun. Because it was taken over unchanged, the English form keeps the Spanish spelling and stress, which is why it can look foreign on the page.