Gael
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Irish Gael, Gaol, from earlier Gaoidheal, from Middle Irish Gaídel, from Old Irish Goídel (“Irishman”), a loanword from Old Welsh Guoidel (“wild man, warrior”) (also recorded as a personal name in the Book of Llandaff), from Proto-Brythonic *guɨðel (“savage, woodsman”), from Proto-Celtic *wēdelos (“savage, woodsman”), related to *wēdus (“wild”), from Proto-Indo-European *weydʰ- (“wood, wilderness”) (cf. Old English wāþ (“hunt”)).[1] Doublet of Goidel.
Medieval Irish traditions, including the Lebor Gabála Érenn, trace the origin of the Goídels to an eponymous ancestor, Goídel Glas, but this is no longer held to be the ultimate etymology of the word.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
Gael (plural Gaels)
- A member of an ethnic group in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, whose language is one that is Gaelic.
- 1911, G.K. Chesterton, The Ballad of the White Horse, Book II: The Gathering Of The Chiefs:
- For the great Gaels of Ireland
Are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry,
And all their songs are sad.
Translations[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 408
Anagrams[edit]
Irish[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old Irish Goídel, from Old Welsh Guoidel (“wild man, warrior”) (compare Welsh Gwyddel (“Irishman”)), from Proto-Brythonic *guɨðel, from Proto-Celtic *wēdus (“wild”), from Proto-Indo-European *weydʰ- (“wood, wilderness”) (compare Old English wāþ (“hunt”)).[1]
Replaced native terms féni (“class of landed Irish freemen”) and fénechas (“matters pertaining to the féni”), though these words survive as féine and féineachas, respectively, and derive ultimately from the same root.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
Gael m (genitive singular Gaeil, nominative plural Gaeil)
- Gael, Irish person
- (~ de chuid na hAlban) (Scottish) Highlander
- Synonyms: duine as an nGàidhealtachd, Híleantóir
Declension[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
- Cumann Lúthchleas Gael m (“the Gaelic Athletic Association”)
- Gaeilge f, Gaelainn (“the Irish language”)
- Gaelach (“Irish; attached to the Irish language, to Irish culture”)
- Gaelachas m (“Irish characteristic(s), Irishness; attachment to Irish culture”)
- Gaelaigh (“Gaelicize”, verb)
- Gaelcholáiste m (“Irish-medium secondary school”)
- Gael-Mheiriceánach (“Irish-American”, adjective)
- Gael-Mheiriceánach m (“Irish-American”)
- Gaeltacht f (“Irishry; Irish(-speaking) people; Irish-speaking area; Gaelic-speaking area of Scotland”)
- Gaelú m (“Gaelicization”)
- Gall-Ghael m (“person of mixed Irish and foreign descent; Anglo-Irishman”)
Mutation[edit]
Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
Gael | Ghael | nGael |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
References[edit]
- ^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 408
Further reading[edit]
- "Gael" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
- Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “Goídel”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
- Entries containing “Gael” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
- Entries containing “Gael” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.
- English terms borrowed from Irish
- English terms derived from Irish
- English terms derived from Middle Irish
- English terms derived from Old Irish
- English terms derived from Old Welsh
- English terms derived from Proto-Brythonic
- English terms derived from Proto-Celtic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English doublets
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- Irish terms inherited from Old Irish
- Irish terms derived from Old Irish
- Irish terms derived from Old Welsh
- Irish terms derived from Proto-Brythonic
- Irish terms derived from Proto-Celtic
- Irish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Irish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Irish lemmas
- Irish nouns
- Irish masculine nouns
- Irish first-declension nouns
- ga:Nationalities