Welsh Definition

wĕlsh, wĕlch
welches, welshes
verb
welshes
To swindle a person by not paying a debt or wager.
Welsh on a bet.
American Heritage
To avoid fulfilling one's debt or obligation.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
adjective
Of Wales or its people, language, or culture.
Webster's New World

(now historical) (Native) British; pertaining to the Celtic peoples who inhabited much of Britain before the Roman occupation. [from 5th c.]

Wiktionary

Of or pertaining to Wales. [from 11th c.]

Wiktionary

Designating plants or animals from or associated with Wales. (See Derived terms.) [from 17th c.]

Wiktionary
Synonyms:
noun
The people of Wales.
American Heritage
The Celtic language spoken in Wales.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
pronoun

(collectively) The people of Wales. [from 11th c.]

Wiktionary

The Welsh language. [from 10th c.]

Wiktionary

A surname for someone who was a Welshman or a Celt.

Wiktionary

A breed of pig, kept mainly for bacon.

Wiktionary
idiom
the Welsh
  • the people of Wales
Webster's New World

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Welsh

  • the Welsh

Origin of Welsh

  • Old English wÄ«lisc, wylisc, from Proto-Germanic *walhiskaz (“Celt; later Roman"), from *walhaz (“Celt") (compare Old English wealh), from the name of the Gaulish tribe, the Volcae (recorded only in Latin contexts). Historically the tribe's name has been linked to an animal, likely Gaulish *wolco- (“wolf"), as Caesar described the Celts having fought with huge dogs, in turn from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kÊ·os.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English Walische from Old English Wælisc from Wealh foreigner, Welshman, Celt probably ultimately from a Celtic tribal name Latin Volcae a confederation of Celtic tribes of the late first millennium bc from a Celtic source perhaps akin to Welsh gwalch hawk

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Probably from welch, spelling influenced by Welsh, used disparagingly. Compare gyp (“swindle") (probably from gypsy (“Roma")), and jew (“defraud"), from Jew.

    From Wiktionary

  • This word was borrowed from Germanic into Slavic (compare Old Church Slavonic влахъ (vlachÅ­, “Vlachs, Romanians"), Byzantine Greek Βλάχος (Bláchos)).

    From Wiktionary

  • Compare Walloon, walnut, Vlach, Walach.

    From Wiktionary

  • Origin unknown

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to welsh using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

welsh