Meanings
gault1
plural gaults
- countableuncountableA type of stiff, blue clay, sometimes used for making bricks.
As he spoke, they turned off the main line of the rolling clays toward the foot of the chalk hills, and began to brush through short cuttings of blue gault and "green sand," so called by geologists, because its usual colours are bright brown, snow-white, and crimson.
1901, Charles Kingsley, Two Years Ago, Volume I
Gault2
- A surname.
Origin
gault · noun
Of local origin, used by quarrymen and brickmakers to refer to the type of soil. First attested in writing as "golt" in 1815 (William Smith) and "gault" in 1816 (J Hailstone).
Full word history & related roots →Gault · proper noun
- Proto-West Germanic*walþu
- Old Frenchgaut“woods”
- Middle Englishgalt(e)“boar”
- EnglishGault
In some cases, from Middle English galt(e) (“boar”), from or related to Old Norse gǫltr. In other cases, from Old French gaut (“woods”) (as in placenames like Le Gault), from Proto-West Germanic *walþu.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French Gault
- GaultTranslations
Welsh cleidir, cleifarl
- cleidirtype of stiff, blue clay
- cleifarltype of stiff, blue clay
- marltype of stiff, blue clay
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
gault. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gault
“gault.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gault. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gault,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gault.
Source: gault on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.