Gael
English
Etymology
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”), from Proto-Indo-European *weydʰ- (“wood, wilderness”) (cf. Old English wāþ (“hunt”)).[1]
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.
Noun
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 The Great Gaels of Ireland
- are the men that God made mad,
- For all their wars are merry
- and all their songs are sad.
- The Ballad of the White Horse, G.K. Chesterton
Translations
References
- Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 408
Irish
Alternative forms
- Gaedheal (Ulster, otherwise superseded)
Etymology
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
- IPA(key): /ɡeːlˠ/
Noun
Gael m (genitive singular Gaeil, nominative plural Gaeil)
- Gael, Irish person
- (~ de chuid na hAlban) (Scottish) Highlander
- Synonyms: duine as an nGàidhealtachd, Híleantóir
Declension
First declension
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Bare forms:
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Forms with the definite article:
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Derived terms
- 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
| 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
- Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 408
Further reading
- "Gael" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
- “Goídel” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
- 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.