Etymology

Gael

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Today it means: A member of an ethnic group in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, whose language is one that is Gaelic. Full definition →

Irish Gae ← Old Irish Goídel ← Proto-Brythonic *Guɨðe
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dwi-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₁weydʰh₁-
  5. Proto-Celtic*weidus
  6. Proto-Celtic*weidelos
  7. Proto-Brythonic*guɨðel
  8. Proto-Brythonic*Guɨðe
  9. Old IrishGoídel
  10. IrishGae
  11. English todayGael

Borrowed from Irish Gael, alt. Gaol, from earlier Gaoidheal, cognate with Scottish Gaelic Gàidheal and Manx Gael, 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 *weidelos (“savage, woodsman”), related to *weidus (“wild”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“wood, wilderness”) (cf. Old English wāþ (“hunt”)). Doublet of Goidel. False cognate of English Gaul, Gallia. 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.

Words from the same roots

Old IrishGoídel all →

Goidel

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.