Welsh Definition
(now historical) (Native) British; pertaining to the Celtic peoples who inhabited much of Britain before the Roman occupation. [from 5th c.]
Of or pertaining to Wales. [from 11th c.]
(collectively) The people of Wales. [from 11th c.]
The Welsh language. [from 10th c.]
- the people of Wales
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
Related Articles
Find Similar Words
Find similar words to welsh using the buttons below.