Wales

See also: wales and Wales'

English

a map of the British Isles, showing the United Kingdom in green and Wales in darker green

Welsh kingdoms c. 1039

Etymology

From Middle English Wales, from Old English Wēalas, plural of wealh (“Celt, Welsh person”), from Proto-West Germanic *walh, from Proto-Germanic *walhaz (“Celt, Roman”). Compare the second element in Cornwall, and also Gaul.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: wālz, IPA^(key): /weɪlz/, [weɪɫz]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪlz
• Homophones: whales, wails (whales in accents with wine-whine merger)

Proper noun

Wales (countable and uncountable, plural Waleses)

2. One of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, formerly a principality.

   Meronyms: North Wales, South Wales; see also Category:Places in Wales

   • 1953 June, “Royal Railway Journeys”, in Railway Magazine, page 364:

     Reassured and pleased with the railway, the Queen returned from Paddington to Slough on June 23, bringing with her the infant Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII.

   • 2022 June 28, Jamie Millar, “'SARM Goblins': The Young Men Hooked on Steroids”, in VICE‎^[1], archived from the original on 7 November 2023:

     A 2013 study found the HIV rate among injecting IPED users in England and Wales was 1.5 percent, comparable to 1.2 percent among users of psychoactive drugs like heroin and crack.

3. (historical) The area in which the Welsh language and culture predominated, roughly coincident with the modern country.
4. A surname.
5. A village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SK4883).
6. A number of places in the United States:
   1. A city in Alaska.
   2. A town in Maine.
   3. A town in Massachusetts.
   4. A town in New York.
   5. A city in North Dakota.
   6. A town in Utah.
   7. A village in Wisconsin.
7. A submerged ghost town in Ontario, Canada.

Synonyms

• (country or Welsh area): Cymru, Welshland
• The Principality

Related terms

• (constituent country): Welsh

Translations

a constituent nation of the UK

• Abkhaz: Уалыс (Waləs)
• Afrikaans: Wallis (af)
• Albanian: Uellsi, Galli f
• Amharic: ዌልስ (wels)
• Antillean Creole: Gal
• Arabic: وِيلْز (ar) f (wēlz, wīlz)

  Hijazi Arabic: ويلز f (wēlz)

• Aramaic:

  Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܘܵܠܝܼܵܐ f (Walia)

• Armenian: Ուելս (Uels), Վաղէս (Vaġēs), Կալլես (Kalles)
• Asturian: Gales (ast)
• Azerbaijani: Uels (az)
• Basque: Gales (eu)
• Belarusian: Ўэльс m (Welʹs), Уэ́льс m (Uélʹs), Ва́лія f (Válija) (obsolete)
• Bengali: ওয়েল্‌স্ (bn) (ōẇel‌s‌)
• Breton: Kembre (br) f
• Bulgarian: Уе́лс m (Uéls)
• Burmese: ဝေလ (wela.)
• Catalan: Gal·les (ca) m, pais de Gal·les m
• Chechen: Уэльс (Welʲs)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 威爾斯 / 威尔斯 (wai¹ ji⁵ si¹), 威爾士 / 威尔士 (wai¹ ji⁵ si⁶)

  Mandarin: 威爾士 / 威尔士 (zh) (Wēi'ěrshì), 威爾斯 / 威尔斯 (zh) (Wēi'ěrsī)

• Chuvash: Уэльс (Uelʹs)
• Cornish: Kembra (kw) f
• Corsican: Galles m
• Czech: Wales (cs) m, Kymry m pl
• Danish: Wales n
• Dutch: Wales (nl) n
• Esperanto: Kimrio
• Estonian: Wales (et), Kõmrimaa (rare)
• Farefare: Walgɔ
• Faroese: Wales n, Kymru n
• Finnish: Wales (fi), Kymri
• French: pays de Galles (fr) m

  Middle French: Galles f

  Old French: Gales f

• Galician: Gales (gl) m
• Georgian: უელსი (uelsi)
• German: Wales (de) n
• Greek: Ουαλία (el) f (Oualía)
• Gujarati: વેલ્સ m (vels)
• Hebrew: קַמְבְּרִיָה f (kambriya) (rare), וֵילְס f (veils), וֵיילְס f (veils)
• Hindi: वेल्स (hi) (vels)
• Hungarian: Wales (hu), Velsz (poetic, archaic)
• Icelandic: Wales (is)
• Ido: Wals (io)
• Indonesian: Wales (id)
• Interlingua: Galles
• Inuktitut: ᐆᐃᓪᔅ (ooils)
• Irish: an Bhreatain Bheag f

  Old Irish: Bretain

• Italian: Galles (it) m
• Japanese: ウェールズ (ja) (Wēruzu)
• Kannada: ವೇಲ್ಸ್ (vēls)
• Kashubian: Walijô
• Kazakh: Уэльс (kk) (Uéls)
• Khmer: វ៉ែល (vael)
• Korean: 웨일스 (ko) (Weilseu)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: Wêls (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: Уэльс (Uels)
• Lao: ການ (lo) (kān), ເວລສ໌ (wēn sa)
• Latin: Cambria f, Wallia f
• Latvian: Velsa f
• Lithuanian: Velsas m
• Macedonian: Велс m (Vels)
• Malay: Wales
• Malayalam: വേൽസ് (vēlsŭ)
• Maltese: Wales
• Manx: Bretyn f
• Maori: Wēra, Weira, Wēri
• Marathi: वेल्स (velsa)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: Уэльс (Uelʹs)

• Nepali: वेल्स (velsa)
• Norman: Galles f
• North Frisian: Wales
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Wales (no)

• Occitan: Galas (oc) m, País de Galas (oc) m
• Old Breton: Kembre, Che[m]bre
• Old English: Wēalas m pl
• Old Norse: Bretland n
• Ossetian: Уэльс (Uèlʹs)
• Pashto: ويلز m, وېلز m
• Persian: ویلز (veylz)
• Polish: Walia (pl) f
• Portuguese: País de Gales (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਵੇਲਜ਼ (velaz)
• Romani:

  Welsh Romani: Vålši f pl, Akava Them m, Talano Them m, Vålšano Them m, Vålšenengo Them m, Vålšitika Them m

• Romanian: Țara Galilor f, Wales (ro) n
• Romansch: Valisa f
• Russian: Уэ́льс (ru) m (Uélʹs), Ва́ллис m (Vállis) (obsolete), Ва́ллия f (Vállija) (obsolete)
• Samoan: Uelese
• Sardinian: Galles m
• Scots: Wales
• Scottish Gaelic: A' Chuimrigh f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Велс m

  Roman: Wales m, Vels m

• Sicilian: Galles m, Gàllisi m
• Silesian: Walijo f
• Sinhalese: වේල්සය (wēlsaya)
• Slovak: Wales m
• Slovene: Wales m
• Somali: Waalis
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: Wales f

  Upper Sorbian: Waliziska f

• Spanish: Gales (es) m, País de Gales m
• Swahili: Welisi
• Swedish: Wales (sv) n
• Tagalog: Gales (tl)
• Tajik: Уэлс (Uels)
• Tamil: வேல்ஸ் (vēls)
• Tatar: Велс (Wels), Уэльс (Uwelʹs)
• Telugu: వేల్స్ (vēls)
• Thai: เวลส์ (weel)
• Tumbuka: Welosi
• Turkish: Galler (tr)
• Turkmen: Uels
• Ukrainian: Уе́льс (uk) m (Uélʹs), Ва́лліс m (Vállis) (obsolete), Ва́ллія f (Vállija) (obsolete)
• Urdu: ویلز (vels)
• Uyghur: ۋېلش (wëlsh)
• Uzbek: Uels
• Vietnamese: xứ Wales, xứ Gan
• Võro: Kõmrimaa, Wales
• Walloon: Wale
• Welsh: Cymru (cy) f

  Middle Welsh: Kymry f

• West Flemish: Wales n
• West Frisian: Wales (fy) n
• Yiddish: וויילז n (veylz)
• Zealandic: Wales

surname

• Bulgarian: Уе́йлс m or f (Uéjls)
• Marathi: वेल्स (velsa)
• Persian: ویلز (veylz)

Anagrams

• lawes, Swale, sweal, alews, weals, Slewa, swale, aswel

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɛls]
• IPA^(key): [ˈvɛjl̩s]

• Audio; [vɛls]:

  (file)

Proper noun

Wales m inan (relational adjective waleský or velšský)

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

Declension

Declension of Wales (sg-only hard masculine inanimate)

	singular
nominative	Wales
genitive	Walesu
dative	Walesu
accusative	Wales
vocative	Walese
locative	Walesu
instrumental	Walesem

Further reading

• “Wales”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Danish

Proper noun

Wales

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋeːls/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eːls

Proper noun

Wales n

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

Anagrams

• walse

Estonian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Wales.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈue̯i̯ls/, [ˈue̯i̯ls]
• Rhymes: -ueils
• Hyphenation: Wa‧les

Proper noun

Wales (genitive Walesi, partitive Walesi)

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

   Synonym: (rare) Kõmrimaa

Usage notes

Since this is an unadapted borrowing, there is no set pronunciation, it depends on the speaker's knowledge of English. The pronunciation above is the most common.

Declension

Declension of Wales (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		Wales	—
accusative	nom.
	gen.	Walesi
genitive			—
partitive		Walesi	—
illative		Walesi Walesisse	—
inessive		Walesis	—
elative		Walesist	—
allative		Walesile	—
adessive		Walesil	—
ablative		Walesilt	—
translative		Walesiks	—
terminative		Walesini	—
essive		Walesina	—
abessive		Walesita	—
comitative		Walesiga	—

Derived terms

• waleslane

References

• Wales in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)
• “Wales”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009

Finnish

Etymology

From English Wales.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwei̯ls/, [ˈwe̞i̯ls̠]
• IPA^(key): /ˈʋei̯ls/, [ˈʋe̞i̯ls̠]
• IPA^(key): /ˈwɑles/, [ˈwɑ̝le̞s̠] (rare)
• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑles/, [ˈʋɑ̝le̞s̠] (rare)
• Rhymes: -eils

Proper noun

Wales

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

Declension

After the spelling:

Inflection of Wales (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		Wales	—
genitive		Walesin	—
partitive		Walesia	—
illative		Walesiin	—
		singular	plural
nominative		Wales	—
accusative	nom.	Wales	—
	gen.	Walesin
genitive		Walesin	—
partitive		Walesia	—
inessive		Walesissa	—
elative		Walesista	—
illative		Walesiin	—
adessive		Walesilla	—
ablative		Walesilta	—
allative		Walesille	—
essive		Walesina	—
translative		Walesiksi	—
abessive		Walesitta	—
instructive		—	—
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of Wales (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Walesini — accusative nom. Walesini — gen. Walesini genitive Walesini — partitive Walesiani — inessive Walesissani — elative Walesistani — illative Walesiini — adessive Walesillani — ablative Walesiltani — allative Walesilleni — essive Walesinani — translative Walesikseni — abessive Walesittani — instructive — — comitative — — second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Walesisi — accusative nom. Walesisi — gen. Walesisi genitive Walesisi — partitive Walesiasi — inessive Walesissasi — elative Walesistasi — illative Walesiisi — adessive Walesillasi — ablative Walesiltasi — allative Walesillesi — essive Walesinasi — translative Walesiksesi — abessive Walesittasi — instructive — — comitative — — first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Walesimme — accusative nom. Walesimme — gen. Walesimme genitive Walesimme — partitive Walesiamme — inessive Walesissamme — elative Walesistamme — illative Walesiimme — adessive Walesillamme — ablative Walesiltamme — allative Walesillemme — essive Walesinamme — translative Walesiksemme — abessive Walesittamme — instructive — — comitative — — second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Walesinne — accusative nom. Walesinne — gen. Walesinne genitive Walesinne — partitive Walesianne — inessive Walesissanne — elative Walesistanne — illative Walesiinne — adessive Walesillanne — ablative Walesiltanne — allative Walesillenne — essive Walesinanne — translative Walesiksenne — abessive Walesittanne — instructive — — comitative — — third-person possessor singular plural nominative Walesinsa — accusative nom. Walesinsa — gen. Walesinsa genitive Walesinsa — partitive Walesiaan Walesiansa — inessive Walesissaan Walesissansa — elative Walesistaan Walesistansa — illative Walesiinsa — adessive Walesillaan Walesillansa — ablative Walesiltaan Walesiltansa — allative Walesilleen Walesillensa — essive Walesinaan Walesinansa — translative Walesikseen Walesiksensa — abessive Walesittaan Walesittansa — instructive — — comitative — —

After the pronunciation:

Inflection of Wales (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		Wales	—
genitive		Walesin	—
partitive		Walesiä	—
illative		Walesiin	—
		singular	plural
nominative		Wales	—
accusative	nom.	Wales	—
	gen.	Walesin
genitive		Walesin	—
partitive		Walesiä	—
inessive		Walesissä	—
elative		Walesistä	—
illative		Walesiin	—
adessive		Walesillä	—
ablative		Walesiltä	—
allative		Walesille	—
essive		Walesinä	—
translative		Walesiksi	—
abessive		Walesittä	—
instructive		—	—
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of Wales (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Walesini — accusative nom. Walesini — gen. Walesini genitive Walesini — partitive Walesiäni — inessive Walesissäni — elative Walesistäni — illative Walesiini — adessive Walesilläni — ablative Walesiltäni — allative Walesilleni — essive Walesinäni — translative Walesikseni — abessive Walesittäni — instructive — — comitative — — second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Walesisi — accusative nom. Walesisi — gen. Walesisi genitive Walesisi — partitive Walesiäsi — inessive Walesissäsi — elative Walesistäsi — illative Walesiisi — adessive Walesilläsi — ablative Walesiltäsi — allative Walesillesi — essive Walesinäsi — translative Walesiksesi — abessive Walesittäsi — instructive — — comitative — — first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Walesimme — accusative nom. Walesimme — gen. Walesimme genitive Walesimme — partitive Walesiämme — inessive Walesissämme — elative Walesistämme — illative Walesiimme — adessive Walesillämme — ablative Walesiltämme — allative Walesillemme — essive Walesinämme — translative Walesiksemme — abessive Walesittämme — instructive — — comitative — — second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Walesinne — accusative nom. Walesinne — gen. Walesinne genitive Walesinne — partitive Walesiänne — inessive Walesissänne — elative Walesistänne — illative Walesiinne — adessive Walesillänne — ablative Walesiltänne — allative Walesillenne — essive Walesinänne — translative Walesiksenne — abessive Walesittänne — instructive — — comitative — — third-person possessor singular plural nominative Walesinsä — accusative nom. Walesinsä — gen. Walesinsä genitive Walesinsä — partitive Walesiään Walesiänsä — inessive Walesissään Walesissänsä — elative Walesistään Walesistänsä — illative Walesiinsä — adessive Walesillään Walesillänsä — ablative Walesiltään Walesiltänsä — allative Walesilleen Walesillensä — essive Walesinään Walesinänsä — translative Walesikseen Walesiksensä — abessive Walesittään Walesittänsä — instructive — — comitative — —

Derived terms

• wales
• walesilainen

compounds

• Uusi-Etelä-Wales
• walesincorgi
• walesinpaimenkoira
• walesinspringerspanieli
• walesinterrieri

German

Etymology

From English Wales

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veːls/, /vɛɪ̯ls/, /wɛɪ̯ls/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Proper noun

Wales n (proper noun, genitive Wales' or (with an article) Wales)

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

Related terms

• Waliser
• Waliserin
• Walisisch
• walisisch
• welsch
• Welsche
• Welscher
• Welschland
• Welschschweiz
• Welschschweizer
• Welschschweizerin
• welschschweizisch

Hungarian

Etymology

From English Wales.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɛls]
• Hyphenation: Wales
• Rhymes: -ɛls

Proper noun

Wales

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	Wales	—
accusative	Walest	—
dative	Walesnek	—
instrumental	Walesszel	—
causal-final	Walesért	—
translative	Walesszé	—
terminative	Walesig	—
essive-formal	Walesként	—
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	Walesben	—
superessive	Walesen	—
adessive	Walesnél	—
illative	Walesbe	—
sublative	Walesre	—
allative	Waleshez	—
elative	Walesből	—
delative	Walesről	—
ablative	Walestől	—
non-attributive possessive – singular	Walesé	—
non-attributive possessive – plural	Waleséi	—

Possessive forms of Wales

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	Walesem	—
2nd person sing.	Walesed	—
3rd person sing.	Walese	—
1st person plural	Walesünk	—
2nd person plural	Walesetek	—
3rd person plural	Walesük	—

Derived terms

• walesi
• Új-Dél-Wales

Indonesian

Proper noun

Wales

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

Middle English

Alternative forms

• Walis, Walys, Walez

Etymology

From Old English Wēalas, plural of wealh; equivalent to wale (“outsider”) +‎ -es.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaːl(ə)s/

Proper noun

Wales

1. Wales (a medieval principality and region of the Kingdom of England)

Descendants

• English: Wales
• Scots: Wales

References

• “Wāles, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 10 May 2018.

Norwegian Bokmål

Proper noun

Wales

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

Related terms

• waliser
• walisisk

Norwegian Nynorsk

Proper noun

Wales

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

Related terms

• walisisk

Romanian

Proper noun

Wales n

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

   Synonym: Țara Galilor

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [vejls]
• IPA^(key): [ˈuels]

Proper noun

Wales m inan (genitive singular Walesu, declension pattern of dub)

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

References

• “Wales”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /wɛjls/

Proper noun

Wales n (genitive Wales)

1. Wales (a constituent country of the United Kingdom)

Related terms

• walesare
• walesisk
• walesiska