Meanings
plural Vlachs · alternative Vlax · alternative Wallach
- A Wallachian.
- A Romanian.
The Wallachs, Vlachs or Roumans are a distinct division of the Latin family of peoples and to-day number about 5,000,000, most of them in Roumania; but Roumans are found in Bessarabia, Transylvania, Hungary, Albania and Macedonia.
1903, Allan J. McLaughlin, "The Storm Center in the Balkans" (in Popular Science Monthly, volume 64) - Any member of an Eastern Romance speaking group, including Romanians, Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, and Istro-Romanians.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*walhaz“non-Germanic foreigner, Celt; later Roman”
- Proto-Slavic*volxъ“speaker of a Romance language”
- EnglishVlach
From Proto-Slavic *volxъ (“speaker of a Romance language”) , from Proto-Germanic *walhaz (“non-Germanic foreigner, Celt; later Roman”). Presumably introduced into Slavic around the 7th century, but first recorded only in the 11th century in Medieval Greek. In English used as a synonym of "Wallachian" from the 19th century. The word is etymologically distantly related to Wales/Welsh, Walloon, and Gaul. Doublet of Gaul and wealh.
More words from Proto-Slavic, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Vlach
Cite this entry
Vlach. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vlach
“Vlach.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vlach. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Vlach,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vlach.
Source: Vlach on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.