Meanings
galilee1
plural galilees
- architectureA narthex, particularly in the United Kingdom and the Church of England; a vestibule, a fully-enclosed yet porch-like structure, leading to the main body of an English ecclesiastical building.
Galilee2
- A mountainous geographic region in northern Israel.
Last spring I organised a race for birdwatchers in Jenin, and we had 21 Palestinians participating. They came from as far as the Naqab desert and the Galilee.
2024 June 6, Marta Vidal, quoting Saed Shomaly, “‘Sometimes I wonder if I’ll come back’: Palestinian birdwatchers defy danger to scan the skies”, in The Guardian - The Sea of Galilee.
- A village in Narragansett, Rhode Island.
Origin
galilee · noun
- LatinGalilaea“Galilee”
- Medieval Latingalilaea
- Old Frenchgalilee
- Middle Englishgalilie
- Englishgalilee
From late Middle English galilie, from Old French galilee, from Medieval Latin galilaea, from Latin Galilaea (“Galilee”). Possibly the allusion is to Galilee being an outlying region of Biblical Palestine.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Galilee · proper noun
- Hebrewגָּלִיל
- Ancient GreekΓᾰλῑλαίᾱ
- LatinGalilaea
- Old FrenchGalilee
- Middle EnglishGalilee
- EnglishGalilee
Inherited from Middle English Galilee, from Old French Galilee, from Latin Galilaea, from Ancient Greek Γᾰλῑλαίᾱ (Gălīlaíā), from Hebrew גָּלִיל (galíl).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
Ancient Greek Γᾰλῑλαίᾱ
- Γᾰλῑλαίᾱ (Gălīlaíā)region of northern Israel
Arabic الْجَلِيل
- الْجَلِيل (al-jalīl)region of northern Israel
Bulgarian Галиле́я
- Галиле́я (Galiléja)region of northern Israel
Catalan Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
Chinese Mandarin 加利利, 加里肋亞
- 加利利 (Jiālìlì)region of northern Israel
- 加里肋亞 (Jiālǐlèiyà)region of northern Israel
Czech Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
Danish Galilæa
- Galilæaregion of northern Israel
Dutch Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
Esperanto Galileo
- Galileoregion of northern Israel
Estonian Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
Finnish Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
French Galilée
- Galiléeregion of northern Israel
German Galiläa
- Galiläaregion of northern Israel
Greek Γαλιλαία
- Γαλιλαία (Galilaía)region of northern Israel
Hawaiian Galilaia
- Galilaiaregion of northern Israel
Hebrew הַגָּלִיל
- הַגָּלִיל (ha-galíl)region of northern Israel
Hindi गलील
- गलील (galīl)region of northern Israel
Hungarian Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
Icelandic Galílea
- Galílearegion of northern Israel
Irish An Ghailíl
- An Ghailílregion of northern Israel
Italian Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
Japanese ガリレヤ
- ガリレヤ (Garireya)region of northern Israel
Korean 갈릴래아
- 갈릴래아 (Gallillaea)region of northern Israel
Latin Galīlaea
- Galīlaearegion of northern Israel
Latvian Galileja
- Galilejaregion of northern Israel
Lithuanian Galilėja
- Galilėjaregion of northern Israel
Malay Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
Māori Karirī
- Karirīregion of northern Israel
Norwegian Bokmål Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
Polish Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
Portuguese Galileia
- Galileiaregion of northern Israel
Romanian Galileea
- Galileearegion of northern Israel
Russian Галиле́я
- Галиле́я (Galiléja)region of northern Israel
Scottish Gaelic Galile
- Galileregion of northern Israel
Slovak Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
Spanish Galilea
- Galilearegion of northern Israel
Swedish Galileen
- Galileenregion of northern Israel
Thai กาลิลี
- กาลิลีregion of northern Israel
Turkish Celile
- Celileregion of northern Israel
Ukrainian Галіле́я
- Галіле́я (Haliléja)region of northern Israel
Urdu گَلِیل
- گَلِیل (galīl)region of northern Israel
Yiddish גליל
- גליל (golel)region of northern Israel
Cite this entry
galilee. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/galilee
“galilee.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/galilee. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “galilee,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/galilee.
Source: galilee on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.