galore

English

WOTD – 17 March 2022

Etymology

PIE word
*ḱóm

Borrowed from Irish go leor and Scottish Gaelic gu leòr, gu leòir (“till sufficient, enough, plenty”) (compare Manx dy liooar), from Irish go, Scottish Gaelic gu (“to; till, until”) + Irish leor, Scottish Gaelic leòr (“ample, sufficient”); go, gu are derived from Old Irish co, cu (“with”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, by; near; with”); while leor, leòr are from Old Irish leor, from lour (“enough, sufficient”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂w- (“to gain; to seize; a benefit; a prize”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɡəˈlɔː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɡəˈlɔɹ/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɡəˈloː/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /ɡəˈlo(ː)ɹ/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /ɡəˈloə/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: ga‧lore

Adjective

galore (not comparable)

1. (postpositive) In abundance. [from late 17th c.]

   Synonyms: aplenty; see also Thesaurus:abundant

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:rare

   After the shipwreck there was whisky galore to be had for the taking.

   • 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 564:

     […] But when I had bestridden the plank, quoth I to myself, "Thou deserveth all that betideth thee. All this is decreed to me of Allah (whose name be exalted!), to turn me from my greed of gain, whence ariseth all that I endure, for I have wealth galore."

Translations

in abundance

• Bulgarian: в изобилие (v izobilie)
• Catalan: a balquena
• Czech: spousta (cs), habaděj (cs), hojný (cs), četný (cs), vydatný (cs)
• Danish: til overflod, til overmål
• Dutch: genoeg (nl), in overvloed, te over
• Esperanto: abunda (eo)
• Finnish: runsaasti (fi)
• French: en abondance (fr), pléthore (fr)
• Galician: a esgalla, a varrer, a barullo
• Georgian: სიუხვე (siuxve), უხვად (uxvad)
• German: im Überfluss m
• Icelandic: í hrönnum, ósköpin öll af
• Irish: go leor
• Italian: a iosa (it), a bizzeffe (it), a gogo, a manetta, a profusione, in abbondanza
• Manx: dy liooar
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: i overflod

  Nynorsk: i overflod, i ovnøgd

• Portuguese: em abundância
• Russian: бо́лее чем доста́точно n (bóleje čem dostátočno), в изоби́лии n (v izobílii)
• Scottish Gaelic: gu leòr
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: и̏зобӣље, и̏зобӣно, о̀бӣље, о̏бӣлно

  Roman: ȉzobīlje (sh), ȉzobīlno, òbīlje (sh), ȍbīlno (sh)

• Spanish: a porrillo, a tutiplén (es) (both colloquial), en abundancia, por doquier
• Swedish: i överflöd

Noun

galore (plural galores)

1. (archaic) An abundance; plenty.
   • 1857, Journal of Australasia, volume 2, page 38:

     The usual routine of confections and pastry follows, after which a galore of fruits of all kinds, with a chassè of excellent Mocha, the immediate servitude of which, after good dining, is, I think, universally acknowledged to be a great exhiliration.^{[sic – meaning exhilaration]}

   • 1868, John Donald Carrick, The Laird of Logan, page 91:

     I have got the Innishowen and galores of bread and cheese ready, and all the neighbours are to join us.

Translations

abundance — see abundance,‎ plenty

Further reading

• galore (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• galero, gaoler, goaler

Yola

Etymology

Borrowed from Irish go leor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡəˈlɔː/

Adverb

galore

1. plenty
   • 1927, “PAUDEEN FOUGHLAAN'S WEDDEEN”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 133, line 10:

     An potteen galore in cans and noggens,

     And potteen plenty in cans and noggins,

References

• Kathleen A. Browne (1927) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol.17 No.2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 133