Gael

Meaning & origin /ɡeɪ̯l/

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 *weidelos (“savage, woodsman”), related to *weidus (“wild”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“wood, wilderness”) (cf. Old English wāþ (“hunt”)). Doublet of Goidel. False cognate of English G

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.