Gaelic
/ˈɡeɪlɪk/noun
Relating to the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages, especially Irish and Scottish Gaelic.
Did you know?The English word ultimately comes from a chain that passed through medieval Latin and Old Irish, preserving the name of a people whose languages carried some of the oldest living Celtic traditions.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Celtic
PCelt
*gʷēl- / *gʷel-
“An ancestral ethnic root often connected with the Gaels/Goidels, though the earliest prehistory is partly uncertain.”
Old Irish
OIr
Goídel
“A Gael; an Irish-speaking person.”
Medieval Latin
MLat
Gaidelicus
“Gaelic; pertaining to the Gaels.”
Early Modern English
English
Gaelic
“Relating to the Gaelic language or the Gaels.”
Modern English
English
Gaelic
“Relating to Irish or Scottish Gaelic, or to the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages.”