List of English words of Celtic origin

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A list of English language words derived from Celtic languages.

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Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


[edit] A

ambassador 
from Old French embassadeur, from Latin ambactus, from Gaulish *ambactos, "servant, henchman, one who goes about".

[edit] B

banshee 
from Irish bean síth "woman of the fairy mound" from bean "woman", and sidhe, from sith "fairy".
bard 
from Scots Gaelic & Welsh bard "a high rank of poet", from Gaulish bardos, "poet, singer".
beak 
from Old French bec, from Latin beccus, from Gaulish becco.
ben 
from Scots Gaelic beann, "mountain peak", from Old Irish *benno-, "peak".
bilge 
from Old French boulge, from Latin bulga, from Gaulish bulgā, "sack".
bludgeon 
from Cornish blugon, "mallet".
bog 
from Irish bogach, "soft, moist or squishy".
bother 
possibly from Irish bodhar, "deaf, to deafen".
brat 
from Old English bratt, from Old Irish bratt, "cloth".
brill 
from Cornish brilli, "mackerel".
brogue 
from Irish bróg, "rough, stout shoe".
budge (lambskin) 
from Old French bulge, from Latin bulga, from Gaulish bulgā, "sack".
budget 
from Old French bougette, from bouge, from Latin bulga, from Gaulish bulgā, "sack".
bulge 
from Old French boulge, from Latin bulga, from Gaulish bulgā, "sack".

[edit] C

cairn 
from Scots Gaelic càrn, "heap of stones, rocky hill".
clan 
from Scots Gaelic clann, "family, stock, offspring", from Old Irish, cland, "offspring, tribe", from Latin planta "offshoot".
claymore 
from Scots Gaelic claidheamh mór, "great sword" Gaelic, from claidheb, "sword" and mór, "great".
clobber 
from Irish clábar, "mud". 'The word clábar may be connected with the word clobber, 'old clothes'. The first OED quote for clobber meaning 'old clothes', is from 1879. We have seen the possibility for Ir. clábar, 'mud' being used in a new setting, the [Australian] goldfields. Could the word have been transferred to describe the clothes the miners would have worn? It is unlikely that this clothing would have been washed every day, and so would have been constantly covered in clábar. It is a short step then to imagine a generic description of such clothes as clobber, and in turn that the word would be applied to old clothes in general. Admittedly this is not a speculation that the OED or lexicographers in general would favour.' [1]
clutter 
from Welsh cludair, "heap, pile".
colleen, coleen 
from Irish cailín, "girl".
coney 
possibly from Welsh cwningen, "rabbit".
corgi 
from Welsh cor, "dwarf" & ci, "dog".
crag 
from Scots Gaelic creag, "rocky outcrop", or Welsh, craig, "cliff".
crumpet 
from Welsh crempog, "pancake, fritter" or Breton krampoez, "small flat cake".
cwm 
from Welsh cwm, "valley".

[edit] D

dolmen 
from French, from Cornish or from Breton taolvean, tol, "key" & men, "stone".
dornick (stone) 
from Irish dornóg, "small round stone, mitten" or Gaelic doirneag, from dorn, "fist".
dour 
possibly from Middle Irish dúr, from Latin dūrus, "hard".
down 
from Celtic root dún.
drumlin 
from Irish druim, "back, ridge".
dune 
from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German, or French, all from Gaulish *dunom.


[edit] E

eisteddfod 
from Welsh eistedd, "session" & fod, variant of bod, "to be".
embassy 
from Middle French embassee, from Italian ambasciata, from Old Provençal ambaisada, from Latin Ambactus, from Gaulish *ambactos, "servant, henchman, one who goes about".

[edit] F

filibeg 
from Gaelic feileadh beag, from feileadh, "fold" and beag, "little".

[edit] G

galore 
from Irish go leor, "enough".
gob 
from Irish gob "mouth".
glean 
from Old French glener, from Late Latin glennare, from Gaulish glanos, "clean".
glen 
from Scottish, from Gaelic gleann, "mountain dale".

[edit] L

lawn 
from Old French lande, "heath", from Gaulish or Germanic.
leprechaun 
from Irish leipreachán.
loch, lough 
from Irish & Scots Gaelic loch, "lake", "fjord" or "strait".

[edit] M

menhir 
from Welsh maen, "stone" & hir, "long".
moniker 
from Shelta munik, possibly from Irish ainm, from Old Irish.

[edit] P

penguin 
from Welsh pen, "head" & gwyn, "white".
piece 
from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *pettia, likely from Gaulish.
plaid 
from Scots Gaelic plaide.

[edit] S

slew, slue 
from Gaelic sluagh, "crowd, host, multitude".
shamrock 
from Irish seamróg, diminutive of seamar "clover".
slogan 
from Gaelic sluaghghairm, "battle cry", from sluagh, "host, army" and gairm, "cry, call".
smashing 
from Irish Is maith sin. 'That word [smashing] 'comes straight from the Irish phrase 'Is maith sin', pronounced 'smoy shin' and meaning 'that is good'.' Antaine O'Donnaille, 'Irish today'[2]
smithereens 
"small broken fragments, little pieces", from Gaelic smidiríní (plural of smidirín, diminutive of smiodar, "fragment"). [But cf. English dialect smaddereen, "a small quantity" (a dialectical form of smattering)]. Hogan* notes: 'The origin of this word is doubtful. Ir. smidirín is probably borrowed from the Anglo-Irish word. OED [Oxford English Dictionary] thinks that the latter is English dialectical 'smithers' = fragments + Anglo-Irish suffix '-een.' But 'smithereens' is recorded (1825) much earlier than 'smithers'; and there is an Anglo-Irish 'smither' = to break into bits. [3]

[edit] T

Tory 
from Irish tōruighe (now tóraí), "plunderer, pursuer", from Old Irish tōirighim, "I pursue".
town 
from Old English tún, from Proto Germanic *tūnaz, *tūnan, from Celtic *dūnom.
trousers 
from Scots Gaelic or Middle Irish triubhas.

[edit] V

valet 
from French, from Gallo-Romance *vassallittus, from Middle Latin vassallus, from vassus, from Old Celtic *wasso-, "young man, squire".
varlet 
from Middle French, from Gallo-Romance *vassallittus, from Middle Latin vassallus, from vassus, from Old Celtic *wasso-, "young man, squire".
vassal 
from Old French, from Middle Latin vassallus, from vassus, from Old Celtic *wasso-, "young man, squire".

[edit] W

whisky, whiskey 
from Scottish Gaelic uisge bheatha, and Irish "uisce beatha," "water of life".

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dymphna Lonergan, Irish words in Australian English Australian National University
  2. ^ : bbc.co.uk
  3. ^ Hogan, Jeremiah J., The English Language in Ireland Dublin: Educational Company of Ireland, 1927

[edit] External links

For a list of words with Celtic origins, see the Celtic derivations category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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