gwael

Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *wailos. Cognate with Breton gail, Gaulish Vailo.

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ɡwaːɨ̯l/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ɡwai̯l/
• Rhymes: -aːɨ̯l

Adjective

gwael (feminine singular gwael, plural gwaelion, equative gwaeled, comparative gwaelach, superlative gwaelaf)

1. miserable, wretched, contemptible, despised, abject, vile
2. unwell, unhealthy, sick, ill, poorly
3. humble, lowly
4. baseborn, plebeian, ignoble, mean, poor

Derived terms

• gwaeledd m (“sickness, illness; poorness; weakness, frailness, wretchedness, abjectness, misery, vileness; baseness of birth, meanness; the common people”)
• gwaelu (“to become ill, sicken, grow faint, ail; to become worse, weaken, decay; to debase, lower (oneself, etc.), become wretched”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of gwael

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
gwael	wael	ngwael	unchanged

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

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “gwael”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies