Gael

Meaning

Noun

A member of an ethnic group in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, whose language is one that is Gaelic.

Name

An unknown-gender given name.

Synonyms

Celt

Kelt

Scotsman

Highlander

Scotchman

Scottish Gaelic

Goidelic

Irishman

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡeɪl/

Etymology

Borrowed from Irish Gael, alt. Gaol, from earlier Gaoidheal, cognate with Scottish Gaelic Gàidheal and Manx Gael, from Middle Irish Gaídel, from Old Irish Goídel (“Irishman”), a loanword from Old Welsh Guoidel (“wild man, warrior”) (also recorded as a personal name in the Book of Llandaff), from Proto-Brythonic *guɨðel (“savage, woodsman”), from Proto-Celtic *wēdelos (“savage, woodsman”), related to *wēdus (“wild”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“wood, wilderness”) (cf. Old English wāþ (“hunt”)). Doublet of Goidel, unrelated to Gaul or Gallia.
Medieval Irish traditions, including the Lebor Gabála Érenn, trace the origin of the Goídels to an eponymous ancestor, Goídel Glas, but this is no longer held to be the ultimate etymology of the word.