gall

gall · noun¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*gallǭ
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*gallā
3. Old English · inherited fromġealla
4. Middle English · inherited fromgalle
5. English todaygall

From Middle English galle, from Old English ġealla, galla, from Proto-West Germanic *gallā, from Proto-Germanic *gallǭ. The figurative senses (e.g., impudence, brazenness, chutzpah) are related to the literal sense (i.e., bile) via the lasting linguocultural effects of humorism, which governed Western medicine for many centuries before the advent of scientific medicine. Related to Dutch gal, German Galle, Swedish galle, galla, Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ). Also remotely related with yellow and gold.

gall · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*gallô“infirmity, swelling, lesion”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*gallō
3. Old English · inherited fromgealla“a fretted spot on the skin”
4. Middle English · inherited fromgalle
5. English todaygall

From Middle English galle, from Old English gealla (“a fretted spot on the skin”), from Proto-West Germanic *gallō, from Proto-Germanic *gallô (“infirmity, swelling, lesion”).

gall · noun, verb³

1. Latin · derived fromgalla“oak-apple”
2. Old French · derived fromgalle
3. Middle English · inherited fromgalle
4. English todaygall

From Middle English galle, from Old French galle, from Latin galla (“oak-apple”).

Gall · proper noun⁴

1. Latin · derived fromGallus
2. English todayGall

* As an English, Scottish Gaelic, and Irish surname, of Celtic origin, from Gall (“foreigner”). This is in turn from Latin Gallus, which has borrowings (many of which are surnames) in several European languages, such as Czech Havel, Polish Gawel. * As a Hungarian surname, variant of Gál, itself from the Latin word.

Words from the same roots