welsch

See also: Welsch

German

Alternative forms

• wälsch (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German welsch, wälsch (wälisch, welhisch, wälhisch, walsch), from Old High German walahisc, walahisk, walask, from Proto-Germanic *walhiskaz. Cognate to Dutch Waals, English Welsh, Danish vælsk.

In the sense “pertaining to Wales or the Welsh language” influenced by Middle English welische, English Welsh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɛlʃ/, [vɛlʃ], [vɛlt͡ʃ], [ʋ-]

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

welsch (comparative welscher, superlative am welschesten)

1. (Switzerland) pertaining to the Romance-speaking areas and population of Switzerland
2. (dated, also derogatory) pertaining to the Romance languages and their speakers in general, particularly French and Italians
   • 1816, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “14. September 1786”, in Italienische Reise‎^[1], volume 1:

     Die jenseitigen Deutschen rupfen den Teig wieder auseinander und braten ihn in Butter auf. Der welsche Tiroler hingegen ißt ihn so weg, manchmal Käse darauf gerieben, und das ganze Jahr kein Fleisch.

     The Germans living on the other side pluck the dough apart again and fry it in butter. The Romance-speaking Tyroleans, on the contrary, eat it as it is, sometimes with cheese grated over it, and no meat throughout the year.

   Synonym: romanisch

3. (archaic) foreign, not native
4. (archaic, also derogatory) of non-Germanic words in German; so used, for example, by purists of the 19th and early 20th century
5. (archaic) pertaining to Wales or the language Welsh

   Synonym: walisisch

Derived terms

• kauderwelsch, Kauderwelsch
• rotwelsch, Rotwelsch
• Welschland
• Welschschweiz

See also

• wendisch (equivalent term for Slavic speakers)

Further reading

• “welsch” in Duden online