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List of English words of Scottish Gaelic origin

January 07, 2023

This is a list of English words borrowed from Scottish Gaelic. Some of these are common in Scottish English and Scots but less so in other varieties of English.

Words of Scottish Gaelic origin

Bard
[1] The word's earliest appearance in English is in 15th century Scotland with the meaning "vagabond minstrel". The modern literary meaning, which began in the 17th century, is heavily influenced by the presence of the word in ancient Greek (bardos) and ancient Latin (bardus) writings (e.g. used by the poet Lucan, 1st century AD), which in turn took the word from the Gaulish language.
Ben
[1] From beinn [peiɲ], mountain.
Bodach
Old man.
Bog
[1] From bog [pok], soft (related to boglach swamp), from Old Irish bocc.[2] 14th century.[3]
Bothan
A hut, often an illegal drinking den. (cf Bothy)
Caber toss
An athletic event, from the Gaelic word "cabar" which refers to a wooden pole.
Cailleach
An old woman, a hag, or a particular ancient goddess.
Cairn
[1] From càrn. The word's meaning is much broader in Gaelic, and is also used for certain types of rocky mountains.
Caman
a shinty stick.
Capercaillie
[1] From capall-coille [kʰaʰpəl̪ˠˈkʰɤʎə], meaning "horse of the woods"
Cèilidh
A 'social gathering' or, more recently, a formal evening of traditional Scottish Social Dancing.
Canntaireachd
oral notation for pipe music.
Clan
[1] From the compound form clann pronounced [ˈkʰl̪ˠãũn̪ˠ], from clann, children or family. Old Irish cland.[2]
Claymore
[1] A large broadsword, from claidheamh mór [ˈkʰl̪ˠajəv ˈmoːɾ], great sword.
Coire
literally a "kettle", meaning a corrie, from the same root.
Crag
[1] From creag [kʲʰɾʲek], a cliff.
Deoch an dorus (various spellings)
meaning a "drink at the door". Translated as "one for the road", i.e. "one more drink before you leave".
Fear an taighe
an MC (master of ceremonies), Gaelic lit. "the man of the house"
Eàrlaid
[4] the right sometimes sold by an outgoing to an incoming tenant to enter into possession of the arable land early in Spring.
Galore
[1] From gu leor, enough.
Gillie
[1] a type of servant, now usually somebody in charge of fishing and rivers, and also ghillie suit used as a form of camouflage, from gille [ˈkʲiʎə], boy or servant.
Glen
[1] From gleann [klaun̪ˠ], a valley.
Gob
[1] From gob, beak or bill.
Kyle or Kyles
Straits from Gaelic Caol & Caolais.
Loch
[1] From loch [l̪ˠɔx].
Lochaber axe
From Loch Abar [l̪ˠɔx ˈapəɾ], Lochaber + axe.
Mackintosh
[1] After Charles Macintosh who invented it. From Mac an Tòisich [ˈmaʰk ən̪ˠ ˈt̪ʰɔːʃɪç], son of the chieftain.
Mod
[1] A Gaelic festival, from mòd [mɔːt̪], assembly, court.
Pet
[5] From peata, tame animal.
Pibroch
[1] From pìobaireachd [ˈpʰiːpɛɾʲəxk], piping.
Pillion
[1] From pillean [ˈpʰiʎan], pack-saddle, cushion.
Plaid
[1] From plaide [ˈpʰl̪ˠatʲə], blanket. Alternatively a Lowland Scots loanword [1], from the past participle of ply, to fold, giving plied then plaid after the Scots pronunciation.
Ptarmigan
[1] From tàrmachan [ˈt̪ʰaːɾməxan]. 16th Century.
Shindig
[1] From sìnteag to skip, or jump around
Slogan
[1] From sluagh-ghairm [ˈs̪l̪ˠuəɣɤɾʲɤm], battle-cry
Sporran
[1] Via sporan [ˈs̪pɔɾan] from Old Irish sboran and ultimately Latin bursa, purse.[6]
Spunk
[1] From spong [s̪pɔŋk], tinder and also sponge. From Early Irish sponge, from Latin spongia, from Greek σπογγιά, a sponge.[2]
Strontium
[1] from Sròn an t-Sìthein [ˈs̪t̪ɾɔːn əɲ ˈtʲʰiːɛɲ] meaning "the point at the fairy hill",[7] name of a village, near which the element was discovered.
Tack & Tacksman (a lessee)
From Scots tak (take) cf. Old Norse taka.
Trousers
[1] from triubhas [ˈt̪ʰɾu.əs̪], via "trews".
Whisky
[1] Short form of whiskybae, from uisge-beatha [ɯʃkʲəˈpɛhə], water of life.

Words of Scottish or Irish Gaelic origin

The following words are of Goidelic origin but it cannot be ascertained whether the source language was Old Irish or one of the modern Goidelic languages.

Brogue
[1] An accent, Irish, or Scottish Gaelic bròg [pɾɔːk], shoe (of a particular kind worn by Irish and Gaelic peasants), Old Irish bróc, from Norse brókr[2]
Hubbub
[1][3] Irish, or Scottish Gaelic ubub [ˈupup], an exclamation of disapproval.
Shanty
Irish or Scottish Gaelic sean taigh [ʃɛn ˈtʰɤj], an old house
Smidgen
Irish or Scottish Gaelic smidean [ˈs̪mitʲan], a very small bit (connected to Irish smidirín, smithereen), from smid, syllable or a small bit.[citation needed]
Strath
[1] Irish, or Scottish Gaelic srath [s̪t̪ɾah], a wide valley.

Gaelic words mostly used in Lowland Scots

 
Corrie

Because of the wide overlap of Scottish English and Lowland Scots, it can be difficult to ascertain if a word should be considered Lowland Scots or Scottish English. These words tend to be more closely associated with Lowland Scots but can occur in Scottish English too.

Airt
[1] Point of the compass, from àird [aːrˠtʲ], a point.
Bothy
[8] A hut, from bothan [ˈpɔhan], a hut, cf. Norse būð, Eng. booth.
Caird
[1] A tinker, from ceaird [kʲʰɛrˠtʲ], the plural of ceàrd, tinkers.
Caber
[1] From cabar [ˈkʰapəɾ], pole.
Cailleach
[1] From cailleach [ˈkʰaʎəx], old woman.
Caman
[1] From caman [ˈkʰaman], shinty stick. Also in use in Scotland the derived camanachd, shinty.
Cateran
[1] From ceatharn [ˈkʲʰɛhərˠn̪ˠ], fighting troop.
Ceilidh
[1] From céilidh [ˈkʲʰeːlɪ], a social gathering.
Clachan
[1] From clachan [ˈkʰl̪ˠaxan], a small settlement.
Clarsach
[1] A harp, from clàrsach [ˈkʰl̪ˠaːrˠs̪əx], a harp.
Corrie
[1] From coire [ˈkʰɤɾʲə], kettle.
Doch-an-doris
[1] Stirrup cup, from deoch an dorais [ˈtʲɔx ən̪ˠ ˈt̪ɔɾɪʃ], drink of the door.
Fillibeg
[1] A kilt, from féileadh beag [ˈfeːləɣ ˈpek], small kilt.
Ingle
[1] From aingeal [ˈãĩŋʲkʲəl̪ˠ], a now obsolete word for fire.
Kyle
[1] From caol [kʰɯːl̪ˠ], narrow.
Lochan
[1] From lochan [ˈl̪ˠɔxan], a small loch.
Machair
[1] From machair [ˈmaxɪɾʲ], the fertile land behind dunes.
Quaich
[1] From cuach [kʰuəx], a cup.
Skean
[9] From sgian [ˈs̪kʲiən], a knife.
Slughorn
Also from sluagh-ghairm, but erroneously believed by Thomas Chatterton and Robert Browning to refer (apparently) to some kind of trumpet.[10]
Inch (in the sense of an island)
,[1] from Scottish Gaelic innis [ĩːʃ].[11]
Och
[8] Irish and Scottish Gaelic och [ɔx], exclamation of regret. Cf. English agh, Dutch and German ach.
Oe
[8] Grandchild, Irish and Scottish Gaelic ogha [ˈo.ə], grandchild.
Samhain
Irish and Scottish Gaelic Samhain [ˈs̪ãũ.ɪɲ], November and related to Oidhche Shamhna, Halloween.
Shennachie
[8] Irish and Scottish Gaelic seanchaidh [ˈʃɛn̪ˠɛxɪ], storyteller.
Sassenach
[1] Irish and Scottish Gaelic Sasannach [ˈs̪as̪ən̪ˠəx], An Englishman, a Saxon.
Abthen (or Abthan)
[8] jurisdiction and territory of pre-Benedictine Scottish monastery, from †abdhaine [ˈapɣəɲə], abbacy.
Airie
[8] shieling, from àiridh [ˈaːɾʲɪ], shieling.
Aiten
[8] juniper, from aiteann [ˈaʰtʲən̪ˠ], juniper.
Bourach
[8] A mess, from bùrach [ˈpuːɾəx], a mess.
Car, ker
[8] Left-handed, from cearr [kʲʰaːrˠ], wrong, left.
Crine
[8] To shrink, from crìon [kʰɾʲiən], to shrink.
Crottle
[8] A type of lichen used as a dye, from crotal [ˈkʰɾɔʰt̪əl̪ˠ], lichen.
Golack
[8] An insect, from gobhlag [ˈkoːl̪ˠak], an earwig.
Keelie
[8] A tough urban male, from gille [ˈkʲiːʎə], a lad, a young man.
Ketach
[8] The left hand, from ciotach [ˈkʲʰiʰt̪əx], left-handed.
Sonse
[8] From sonas [ˈs̪ɔnəs̪], happiness, good fortune. Also the related sonsy.
Spleuchan
[8] A pouch, from spliùchan [ˈs̪pluːxan], a pouch, purse.
Toshach
[8] Head of a clan, from toiseach [ˈt̪ʰɔʃəx], beginning, front.

Place-name terminology

There are numerous additional place-name elements in Scotland which are derived from Gaelic, but the majority of these have not entered the English or Scots language as productive nouns and often remain opaque to the average Scot. A few examples of such elements are:

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av Collins English Dictionary 21st Century Edition Harper Collins (2001) ISBN 0-00-472529-8
  2. ^ a b c d MacBain, A. (1911) An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language
  3. ^ a b Hoad, T.F. (ed) (1986) Oxford Concise Dictionary of English Etymology Oxford ISBN 0-19-283098-8
  4. ^ This article incorporates text from Dwelly's [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary (1911). Èarlaid
  5. ^ "Home : Oxford English Dictionary".
  6. ^ "MacBain's Dictionary - Section 36". www.ceantar.org.
  7. ^ Iain Mac an Tàilleir: Scottish Placenames 2008-05-29 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Robinson, M. (ed) The Concise Scots Dictionary Chambers 1985 ISBN 0-08-028491-4
  9. ^ McArthur. T. The Oxford Companion to the English Language Oxford University Press 1992 ISBN 0-19-214183-X
  10. ^ Simpson, J.A. and Weiner E.S.C. The Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition Vol XV
  11. ^ "Dictionary of the Scots Language :: SND :: Inch n." www.dsl.ac.uk.

January 07, 2023
list, english, words, scottish, gaelic, origin, this, list, english, words, borrowed, from, scottish, gaelic, some, these, common, scottish, english, scots, less, other, varieties, english, contents, words, scottish, gaelic, origin, words, scottish, irish, gae. This is a list of English words borrowed from Scottish Gaelic Some of these are common in Scottish English and Scots but less so in other varieties of English Contents 1 Words of Scottish Gaelic origin 2 Words of Scottish or Irish Gaelic origin 3 Gaelic words mostly used in Lowland Scots 4 Place name terminology 5 See also 6 ReferencesWords of Scottish Gaelic origin Edit Cairn Capercaillie Claymore Trousers Bard 1 The word s earliest appearance in English is in 15th century Scotland with the meaning vagabond minstrel The modern literary meaning which began in the 17th century is heavily influenced by the presence of the word in ancient Greek bardos and ancient Latin bardus writings e g used by the poet Lucan 1st century AD which in turn took the word from the Gaulish language Ben 1 From beinn peiɲ mountain Bodach Old man Bog 1 From bog pok soft related to boglach swamp from Old Irish bocc 2 14th century 3 Bothan A hut often an illegal drinking den cf Bothy Caber toss An athletic event from the Gaelic word cabar which refers to a wooden pole Cailleach An old woman a hag or a particular ancient goddess Cairn 1 From carn The word s meaning is much broader in Gaelic and is also used for certain types of rocky mountains Caman a shinty stick Capercaillie 1 From capall coille kʰaʰpel ˠˈkʰɤʎe meaning horse of the woods Ceilidh A social gathering or more recently a formal evening of traditional Scottish Social Dancing Canntaireachd oral notation for pipe music Clan 1 From the compound form clann pronounced ˈkʰl ˠaũn ˠ from clann children or family Old Irish cland 2 Claymore 1 A large broadsword from claidheamh mor ˈkʰl ˠajev ˈmoːɾ great sword Coire literally a kettle meaning a corrie from the same root Crag 1 From creag kʲʰɾʲek a cliff Deoch an dorus various spellings meaning a drink at the door Translated as one for the road i e one more drink before you leave Fear an taighe an MC master of ceremonies Gaelic lit the man of the house Earlaid 4 the right sometimes sold by an outgoing to an incoming tenant to enter into possession of the arable land early in Spring Galore 1 From gu leor enough Gillie 1 a type of servant now usually somebody in charge of fishing and rivers and also ghillie suit used as a form of camouflage from gille ˈkʲiʎe boy or servant Glen 1 From gleann klaun ˠ a valley Gob 1 From gob beak or bill Kyle or Kyles Straits from Gaelic Caol amp Caolais Loch 1 From loch l ˠɔx Lochaber axe From Loch Abar l ˠɔx ˈapeɾ Lochaber axe Mackintosh 1 After Charles Macintosh who invented it From Mac an Toisich ˈmaʰk en ˠ ˈt ʰɔːʃɪc son of the chieftain Mod 1 A Gaelic festival from mod mɔːt assembly court Pet 5 From peata tame animal Pibroch 1 From piobaireachd ˈpʰiːpɛɾʲexk piping Pillion 1 From pillean ˈpʰiʎan pack saddle cushion Plaid 1 From plaide ˈpʰl ˠatʲe blanket Alternatively a Lowland Scots loanword 1 from the past participle of ply to fold giving plied then plaid after the Scots pronunciation Ptarmigan 1 From tarmachan ˈt ʰaːɾmexan 16th Century Shindig 1 From sinteag to skip or jump around Slogan 1 From sluagh ghairm ˈs l ˠueɣɤɾʲɤm battle cry Sporran 1 Via sporan ˈs pɔɾan from Old Irish sboran and ultimately Latin bursa purse 6 Spunk 1 From spong s pɔŋk tinder and also sponge From Early Irish sponge from Latin spongia from Greek spoggia a sponge 2 Strontium 1 from Sron an t Sithein ˈs t ɾɔːn eɲ ˈtʲʰiːɛɲ meaning the point at the fairy hill 7 name of a village near which the element was discovered Tack amp Tacksman a lessee From Scots tak take cf Old Norse taka Trousers 1 from triubhas ˈt ʰɾu es via trews Whisky 1 Short form of whiskybae from uisge beatha ɯʃkʲeˈpɛhe water of life Words of Scottish or Irish Gaelic origin EditThe following words are of Goidelic origin but it cannot be ascertained whether the source language was Old Irish or one of the modern Goidelic languages Brogue 1 An accent Irish or Scottish Gaelic brog pɾɔːk shoe of a particular kind worn by Irish and Gaelic peasants Old Irish broc from Norse brokr 2 Hubbub 1 3 Irish or Scottish Gaelic ubub ˈupup an exclamation of disapproval Shanty Irish or Scottish Gaelic sean taigh ʃɛn ˈtʰɤj an old house Smidgen Irish or Scottish Gaelic smidean ˈs mitʲan a very small bit connected to Irish smidirin smithereen from smid syllable or a small bit citation needed Strath 1 Irish or Scottish Gaelic srath s t ɾah a wide valley Gaelic words mostly used in Lowland Scots Edit Bothy Caber Corrie Machair Quaich Because of the wide overlap of Scottish English and Lowland Scots it can be difficult to ascertain if a word should be considered Lowland Scots or Scottish English These words tend to be more closely associated with Lowland Scots but can occur in Scottish English too Airt 1 Point of the compass from aird aːrˠtʲ a point Bothy 8 A hut from bothan ˈpɔhan a hut cf Norse bud Eng booth Caird 1 A tinker from ceaird kʲʰɛrˠtʲ the plural of ceard tinkers Caber 1 From cabar ˈkʰapeɾ pole Cailleach 1 From cailleach ˈkʰaʎex old woman Caman 1 From caman ˈkʰaman shinty stick Also in use in Scotland the derived camanachd shinty Cateran 1 From ceatharn ˈkʲʰɛherˠn ˠ fighting troop Ceilidh 1 From ceilidh ˈkʲʰeːlɪ a social gathering Clachan 1 From clachan ˈkʰl ˠaxan a small settlement Clarsach 1 A harp from clarsach ˈkʰl ˠaːrˠs ex a harp Corrie 1 From coire ˈkʰɤɾʲe kettle Doch an doris 1 Stirrup cup from deoch an dorais ˈtʲɔx en ˠ ˈt ɔɾɪʃ drink of the door Fillibeg 1 A kilt from feileadh beag ˈfeːleɣ ˈpek small kilt Ingle 1 From aingeal ˈaĩŋʲkʲel ˠ a now obsolete word for fire Kyle 1 From caol kʰɯːl ˠ narrow Lochan 1 From lochan ˈl ˠɔxan a small loch Machair 1 From machair ˈmaxɪɾʲ the fertile land behind dunes Quaich 1 From cuach kʰuex a cup Skean 9 From sgian ˈs kʲien a knife Slughorn Also from sluagh ghairm but erroneously believed by Thomas Chatterton and Robert Browning to refer apparently to some kind of trumpet 10 Inch in the sense of an island 1 from Scottish Gaelic innis ĩːʃ 11 Och 8 Irish and Scottish Gaelic och ɔx exclamation of regret Cf English agh Dutch and German ach Oe 8 Grandchild Irish and Scottish Gaelic ogha ˈo e grandchild Samhain Irish and Scottish Gaelic Samhain ˈs aũ ɪɲ November and related to Oidhche Shamhna Halloween Shennachie 8 Irish and Scottish Gaelic seanchaidh ˈʃɛn ˠɛxɪ storyteller Sassenach 1 Irish and Scottish Gaelic Sasannach ˈs as en ˠex An Englishman a Saxon Abthen or Abthan 8 jurisdiction and territory of pre Benedictine Scottish monastery from abdhaine ˈapɣeɲe abbacy Airie 8 shieling from airidh ˈaːɾʲɪ shieling Aiten 8 juniper from aiteann ˈaʰtʲen ˠ juniper Bourach 8 A mess from burach ˈpuːɾex a mess Car ker 8 Left handed from cearr kʲʰaːrˠ wrong left Crine 8 To shrink from crion kʰɾʲien to shrink Crottle 8 A type of lichen used as a dye from crotal ˈkʰɾɔʰt el ˠ lichen Golack 8 An insect from gobhlag ˈkoːl ˠak an earwig Keelie 8 A tough urban male from gille ˈkʲiːʎe a lad a young man Ketach 8 The left hand from ciotach ˈkʲʰiʰt ex left handed Sonse 8 From sonas ˈs ɔnes happiness good fortune Also the related sonsy Spleuchan 8 A pouch from spliuchan ˈs pluːxan a pouch purse Toshach 8 Head of a clan from toiseach ˈt ʰɔʃex beginning front Place name terminology Edit Kilmarnock There are numerous additional place name elements in Scotland which are derived from Gaelic but the majority of these have not entered the English or Scots language as productive nouns and often remain opaque to the average Scot A few examples of such elements are a u ch from Gaelic achadh a field hence Auchentoshan distillery Auchinleck ard from Gaelic aird a height or promontory hence Ardnamurchan etc bal from Gaelic baile a town hence Balgowan Balgay etc cam from Gaelic camas a bend or meander hence Cambuslang Cambusnethan dal from Gaelic dail a meadow not to be confused with dale from the Norse dalr meaning a valley hence Dalry drum from Gaelic druim a ridge hence Drumchapel Drumnadrochit etc dun from Gaelic dun a fort hence Dundee Dumbarton Dunedin inver from Gaelic inbhir a river mouth or confluence hence Inverclyde Inverleith kil from Gaelic cill a churchyard hence Kilmarnock Kilbride etc kin from Gaelic ceann a head hence Kinlochleven Kinloss etc See also EditList of English words of Scots origin List of English words of Irish origin List of English words of Welsh origin Lists of English words of Celtic origin Lists of English words by country or language of originReferences Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av Collins English Dictionary 21st Century Edition Harper Collins 2001 ISBN 0 00 472529 8 a b c d MacBain A 1911 An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language a b Hoad T F ed 1986 Oxford Concise Dictionary of English Etymology Oxford ISBN 0 19 283098 8 This article incorporates text fromDwelly s Scottish Gaelic Dictionary 1911 Earlaid Home Oxford English Dictionary MacBain s Dictionary Section 36 www ceantar org Iain Mac an Tailleir Scottish Placenames Archived 2008 05 29 at the Wayback Machine a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Robinson M ed The Concise Scots Dictionary Chambers 1985 ISBN 0 08 028491 4 McArthur T The Oxford Companion to the English Language Oxford University Press 1992 ISBN 0 19 214183 X Simpson J A and Weiner E S C The Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition Vol XV Dictionary of the Scots Language SND Inch n www dsl ac uk Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title List of English words of Scottish Gaelic origin amp oldid 1076568518, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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