Gall

See also: gall and gäll

English

Etymology

• As an English, Scottish Gaelic, and Irish surname, of Celtic origin, from Gall (“foreigner”). This is in turn from Latin Gallus, which has borrowings (many of which are surnames) in several European languages, such as Czech Havel, Polish Gawel.
• As a Hungarian surname, variant of Gál, itself from the Latin word.

Proper noun

Gall (plural Galls)

1. A surname.

Breton

Etymology

From Latin Gallus, see also Scottish Gaelic Gall.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡalː/

Noun

Gall m (plural Gallaoued)

1. (archaic) foreigner
2. (dated) Gaul, Gaulish person
3. Gallo-speaker
4. Frenchman, Romance-speaking person not from Lower Brittany

Inflection

Mutation of Gall

	unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard
singular	Gall	C'hall	unchanged	Kall
plural	Gallaoued	C'hallaoued	unchanged	Kallaoued

Derived terms

• galleg

Related terms

• gallaoueg

Czech

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡal]

Proper noun

Gall m anim (female equivalent Gallová)

1. a male surname

Declension

Declension of Gall (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	Gall	Gallové
genitive	Galla	Gallů
dative	Gallovi	Gallům
accusative	Galla	Gally
vocative	Galle	Gallové
locative	Gallovi	Gallech
instrumental	Gallem	Gally

Irish

Etymology

See gall.

Pronunciation

• (Aran) IPA^(key): /ɡɑ(ː)l̪ˠ/
• (Cois Fharraige) IPA^(key): /ɡɑːl̪ˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ɡal̪ˠ/

Noun

Gall m (genitive singular Gaill, nominative plural Gaill)

1. (historical) Gaul (person from Gaul)
2. (historical) Northman, Dane (member of the Germanic tribe inhabiting the Danish islands and parts of southern Sweden)
3. (historical) Norman (member of the mixed Scandinavian and French peoples who, in the 11th century, were a major military power in Western Europe and who conquered the English in 1066), Anglo-Norman (descendant of the Normans who settled in England after the Norman Conquest), Englishman

   Synonym: Normannach

   1. (by extension) Brit

      Synonyms: Briotanach, Sasanach

Declension

Declension of Gall (first declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative Gall Gaill vocative a Ghaill a Ghalla genitive Gaill Gall dative Gall Gaill forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an Gall na Gaill genitive an Ghaill na nGall dative leis an nGall don Ghall leis na Gaill

Derived terms

• Dún na nGall (“Donegal”)
• Fine Gall (“Fingal”)
• Gall- (“Anglo-”)
• Gall-Ghael m (“person of mixed Irish and foreign descent”)
• Gall-Rómhánach (“Gallo-Roman”)
• Inse Ghall (“the Hebrides”)
• Nua-Ghall m (“later Anglo-Norman or English settler”)
• Sean-Ghall m (“older Anglo-Norman or English settler”)

Related terms

• gall

Mutation

Mutated forms of Gall

radical	lenition	eclipsis
Gall	Ghall	nGall

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “Gall”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “Gall”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “Gall”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

Old Irish

Etymology

From Latin Gallus (“a Gaul”), probably from the root of Proto-Celtic *galnati (“to be able”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡal͈/

Noun

Gall m (genitive Gaill, nominative plural Gaill)

1. Gaul (person from Gaul)

Usage notes

The only meaning attested in Old Irish is “person from Gaul”. In later stages of Irish, it came to be applied to anyone who was not of indigenous Gaelic ancestry, e.g. Norse people, Anglo-Normans, English people etc. and (normalized as lower-case gall) as a common noun meaning simply “foreigner”.

Declension

Masculine o-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	Gall	GallL	GaillL
vocative	Gaill	GallL	GalluH
accusative	GallN	GallL	GalluH
genitive	GaillL	Gall	GallN
dative	GallL	Gallaib	Gallaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: Gall
• Manx: Goal
• Scottish Gaelic: Gall
• Middle Irish: gall
  • Irish: gall
  • Manx: goal
  • Scottish Gaelic: gall

Mutation

Mutation of Gall

radical	lenition	nasalization
Gall	Gall pronounced with /ɣ(ʲ)-/	nGall

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “25308”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Scottish Gaelic

Alternative forms

• gall

Etymology

From Old Irish Gall (“a Gaul”), from Latin Gallus (“a Gaul”), from a native Celtic name, the Gauls being the first strangers to visit or be visited by the Irish in Pre-Roman and Roman times. Compare Proto-Celtic *gallos (whence Welsh gal (“enemy, foe”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaul̪ˠ/

Noun

Gall m (genitive singular Goill, plural Goill)

1. foreigner, alien

   Synonyms: coimheach, coigreach

2. Lowlander (Scottish Lowlands)

Derived terms

• Beurla Ghallta (“Scots”)
• Gallta (“alien, foreign; Lowland”, adjective)

Mutation

Mutation of Gall

radical	lenition
Gall	Ghall

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.