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Gael
Gael. Name of disputed origin for the Irish and Scottish Gaelic peoples, speakers of related Goidelic, Q-Celtic languages. An insupportable popular perception persists that the name for the Gaelic people is somehow derived from Goídel Glas, the inventor of the Irish language in the medieval pseudo-history Lebor Gabála [Book of Invasions]. OIr. Goídel is the word both for the supposed eponymous ancestor of the Irish language and for an Irishman or Scottish Highlander. Gael is indeed a modern form, in both Irish and English contexts, for Goídel, and Gael is the reformed ModIr. word for Irishman; cf. unreformed, Gaedheal. Learned commentators argue, however, that the OIr. Goídel predates the composition of the Lebor Gabála and derives from the OW word for Irishman, Gwyddel, which may derive from the OW gwydd [wild]. A third popular perception, that Gael is a variant of the Celtic phoneme -gal-, the name for the Celtic people as found in Gaul, Galicia, Galatia, etc., is simply a misreading. Lastly, the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edn. (1989) cites the oldest use of Gael in English (1596), deriving from the ScG Gàidheal and denoting a Scottish Highlander.
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Cite this article
JAMES MacKILLOP. "Gael." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES MacKILLOP. "Gael." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-Gael.html JAMES MacKILLOP. "Gael." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-Gael.html |
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Gael
Gael (adj. Gaelic), the name of the population of Ireland, particularly those who adhere(d) to the Irish language and native culture. The word appears originally as Goídel and is a loanword from Welsh Gwyddel, ‘Irishman’, which itself has a pejorative meaning (Welsh gwydd, ‘wild, savage’). Irish tradition derived the name from Gaedheal Glas, a grandson of Noah who fashioned the Irish (Gaedhilg, ‘Gaelic’) language from the best elements of the 72 languages spoken at the time of the tower of Babel. It appears to have been employed as an ethnic term by the Irish themselves at least by the 8th century, when it first appears in the annals, and it came to replace Érainn, which was previously employed to describe the people of Ireland. The Viking incursions further stimulated the use of ‘Gael’ as an ethnic designation to contrast the native Irish with the foreign invaders. The term was employed specifically of the Irish as an ethnolinguistic group, while Erainn remained the designation of the island itself.
J. P. Mallory |
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Cite this article
"Gael." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Gael." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-Gael.html "Gael." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-Gael.html |
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Gael
Gael / gāl/ • n. a Gaelic-speaking person. ∎ a person whose ancestors spoke Gaelic. DERIVATIVES: Gael·dom / -dəm/ n. |
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"Gael." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Gael." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-gael.html "Gael." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-gael.html |
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Gael
Gael Celtic native of the Scottish Highlands. XIX. — Sc. Gaelic Gaidheal, corr. to Ir. Goídel.
Hence Gaelic XVIII. |
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T. F. HOAD. "Gael." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "Gael." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-Gael.html T. F. HOAD. "Gael." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-Gael.html |
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Gael
Gael ♀ Fanciful spelling of Gail, also occasionally written Gaelle.
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PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Gael." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Gael." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Gael.html PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Gael." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Gael.html |
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Gael
Gael
•ail, ale, assail, avail, bail, bale, bewail, brail, Braille, chain mail, countervail, curtail, dale, downscale, drail, dwale, entail, exhale, fail, faille, flail, frail, Gael, Gail, gale, Grail, grisaille, hail, hale, impale, jail, kale, mail, male, nail, nonpareil, outsail, pail, pale, quail, rail, sail, sale, sangrail, scale, shale, snail, stale, swale, tail, tale, they'll, trail, upscale, vail, vale, veil, wail, wale, whale, Yale
•Passchendaele • Airedale
•Wensleydale • Clydesdale
•Chippendale • Coverdale • Abigail
•galingale • martingale • nightingale
•farthingale • Windscale • timescale
•blackmail • airmail
•email, female
•Ishmael • voicemail • vermeil
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Cite this article
"Gael." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Gael." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Gael.html "Gael." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Gael.html |
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