- a member of the Celtic-speaking people of ancient Gaul
- a Frenchman
Gaul
Gaul- ancient region in W Europe, consisting of what is now mainly France & Belgiumafter 5th cent. , also called Transalpine Gaul
- ancient region in N Italy, occupied by the Gauls (4th cent. )in full Cisalpine Gaul
- ancient division of the Roman Empire, including Cisalpine Gaul & Transalpine Gaul (1st-5th cent. )
Origin of Gaul
French from Frankish an unverified form walha, Romans, foreigners, origin, originally , Celts from West Germanic an unverified form walhos from Celtic name from source Wales, Welsh, Classical Latin Volcae
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"Gaul." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Gaul>.
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Gaul. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Gaul
Gaul
noun
- A Celt of ancient Gaul.
- A French person.
Formerly Gal·li·a
An ancient region of western Europe south and west of the Rhine River, west of the Alps, and north of the Pyrenees, corresponding roughly to modern-day France and Belgium. The Romans extended the designation to include northern Italy, particularly after Julius Caesar's conquest of the area in the Gallic Wars (58-51 BC).
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"Gaul." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Gaul>.
APA Style
Gaul. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Gaul
Noun
(plural Gauls)
- A person from Gaul.
Anagrams
Origin
From French Gaule (“Gaul”), from Middle French Gaule (“Gaul”), from Old French Gaule, Waulle (“Gaul”), a word used as a translation of Latin Gallia (“Gaul”), from Frankish *Walholant (“Gaul, Land of the Romans, foreigners”), from Frankish *Walha (“foreigners, Romans, Celts”), from Proto-Germanic *walhaz (“an outlander, foreigner, Celt”), probably of Celtic origin, from the same source as Latin Volcae (“name of a Celtic tribe in South Germany, which later emmigrated to Gaul”). Akin to Old High German Walh, Walah (“a Celt, Roman, Gaul”), Old English Wealh, Walh (“a non-Germanic foreigner, Celt/Briton/Welshman”), Old Norse Valir (“Gauls, Frenchmen”). More at Wales, Cornwall, Walloon.
Despite their similar appearance, Latin Gallia is probably not the origin of French Gaul; the similarity is purely coincidental. According to regular sound changes in the development of Old French, Latin g before a becomes j (compare gamba, whence jambe), and the i of terminal -ia transpositions to the preceding syllable (compare gloire from gloria). Thus, the regular outcome of Latin Gallia is Jaille, a component still seen in several French placenames (eg. La Jaille-Yvon, Saint-Mars-la-Jaille, etc).
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"Gaul." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Gaul>.
APA Style
Gaul. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Gaul
