gaol

English

The old Melbourne gaol

Etymology

From Middle English gayole, Middle English gajol, gaylle, gaille, gayle, gaile, via Old French gaiole, gayolle, gaole, from Medieval Latin gabiola, for Vulgar Latin *caveola, a diminutive of Latin cavea (“cavity, coop, cage”). See also cage.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʒeɪl/
• Rhymes: -eɪl

Noun

gaol (plural gaols)

1. (Commonwealth) Dated spelling of jail.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess‎^[1]:

     ‘[…] There's every Staffordshire crime-piece ever made in this cabinet, and that's unique. The Van Hoyer Museum in New York hasn't that very rare second version of Maria Marten's Red Barn over there, nor the little Frederick George Manning—he was the criminal Dickens saw hanged on the roof of the gaol in Horsemonger Lane, by the way—’

   • 2000, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 26:

     Sirius had been in Azkaban, the terrifying wizard gaol guarded by creatures called Dementors

Usage notes

Gaol was the more common spelling between about 1760 and 1830, and is still preferred in proper names in some regions. Most Australian newspapers use jail rather than gaol, citing either narrower print width or the possibility of transposing letters in gaol to produce goal. By far the most common spelling in Canada is jail, but a handful of legal writers use gaol; see for example [2], para. 26.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:jail

Verb

gaol (third-person singular simple present gaols, present participle gaoling, simple past and past participle gaoled)

1. (Commonwealth) Dated spelling of jail.

Derived terms

• engaol
• gaoler

Translations

jail — see jail

Anagrams

• Galo, Gola, Lago, Olga, algo, algo-, goal

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Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish gáel (“relationship”), from Proto-Celtic *gaylo- (compare Lithuanian gailùs (“compassionate”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gailjan, “gladden”), German geil (“wanton”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡeːl̪ˠ/
• IPA^(key): /ɡiːlˠ/

Noun

gaol m (genitive singular gaoil, nominative plural gaolta)

1. relationship, kinship; kindred feeling
2. relation, kin; relative
3. relation between things, connection

Declension

Declension of gaol

First declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative gaol gaolta Vocative a ghaoil a ghaolta Genitive gaoil gaolta Dative gaol gaolta

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an gaol na gaolta Genitive an ghaoil na ngaolta Dative leis an ngaol don ghaol leis na gaolta

Derived terms

• salachar gaoil (“distant relationship”)
• neasghaol (“next of kin”)
• gaolmhar (“associated; relative, related; cognate”)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
gaol	ghaol	ngaol
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

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Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish gáel (“relationship”), from Proto-Celtic *gaylo-; compare Lithuanian gailùs (“compassionate”); Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gailjan, “gladden”), German geil (“wanton”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɯːɫ̪/

Noun

gaol m (genitive singular gaoil, plural gaoil)

1. love, affection

   Tha gaol agam ort. ― I love you. (literally "is love at me on you")

   Ghabh i trom ghaol air. ― She fell madly in love with him.

Declension

Bare forms

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	gaol	gaoil
Dative	gaol	gaoil
Genitive	gaoil	gaol
Vocative	a ghaoil	a ghaola

Forms with the definite article

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	an gaol	na gaoil
Dative	a' ghaol	na gaoil
Genitive	a' ghaoil	nan gaol

Usage notes

The love expressed by gaol is more intimate in nature than that of gràdh.

Derived terms

• gabh gaol air
• tha gaol agam ort

Mutation

Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical	Lenition
gaol	ghaol
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “gaol”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎^[3], Stirling, →ISBN