List of English words of Welsh origin

Similar cognates across Goidelic (gaelic), Latin, Old French and the other Brittonic families makes isolating a precise origin hard. This applies to cross from Latin crux, Old Irish cros overtaking Old English rood ; appearing in Welsh and Cornish as Croes, Krows. It complicates Old Welsh attributions for, in popular and technical topography, Tor (OW tŵr) and crag (Old Welsh carreg or craig) with competing Celtic derivations, direct and indirect, for the Old English antecedents.

adder

The Proto-Indo-European root netr- led to Latin natrix, Welsh neidr, Cornish nader, Breton naer, West Germanic nædro, Old Norse naðra, Middle Dutch nadre, any of which may have led to the English word.

bow

May be from Old English bugan "to bend, to bow down, to bend the body in condescension," also "to turn back", or more simply from the Welsh word bwa. A reason for the word Bow originating from Welsh, is due to Welsh Bowmen playing a major role in the Hundred Years War, such as the Battle of Crécy, Battle of Agincourt and the Battle of Patay, and the bows were often created in Wales.[14][15]

coombe

meaning "valley", is usually linked with the Welsh cwm, also meaning "valley", Cornish and Breton komm. However, the OED traces both words back to an earlier Celtic word, *kumbos. It suggests a direct Old English derivation for "coombe".

(Coumba, or coumbo, is the common western-alpine vernacular word for "glen", and considered genuine gaulish (celtic-ligurian branch). Found in many toponyms of the western Alps like Coumboscuro (Grana valley), Bellecombe and Coumbafréide (Aoste), Combette (Suse), Coumbal dou Moulin (Valdensian valleys). Although seldom used, the word "combe" is included into major standard-french dictionaries. This could justify the celtic origin thesis).

crockery

It has been suggested that crockery might derive from the Welsh crochan, as well as the Manx crocan and Gaelic crogan, meaning "pot". The OED states that this view is "undetermined". It suggests that the word derives from Old English croc, via the Icelandic krukka, meaning "an earthenware pot or pitcher".

crumpet

Welsh crempog, cramwyth, Cornish krampoeth or Breton Krampouezh; 'little hearth cakes'

druid

From the Old Celtic derwijes/derwos ("true knowledge" or literally "they who know the oak") from which the modern Welsh word derwydd evolved, but travelled to English through Latin (druidae) and French (druide)

gull

from either Welsh or Cornish;[16] Welsh gwylan, Cornish guilan, Breton goelann; all from O.Celt. *voilenno- "gull" (OE mæw)

iron

or at least the modern form of the word "iron" (c/f Old English ísern, proto-Germanic *isarno, itself borrowed from proto-Celtic), appears to have been influenced by pre-existing Celtic forms in the British Isles: Old Welsh haearn, Cornish hoern, Breton houarn, Old Gaelic íarn (Irish iaran, iarun, Scottish iarunn)[17]

lawn

from Welsh Llan Cornish Lan (cf. Launceston, Breton Lann); Heath; enclosed area of land, grass about a Christian site of worship from Cornish Lan (e.g. Lanteglos, occasionally Laun as in Launceston) or Welsh Llan (e.g. Llandewi)[18]

penguin

possibly from pen gwyn, "white head". "The fact that the penguin has a black head is no serious objection."[3][4] It may also be derived from the Breton language, or the Cornish Language, which are all closely related. However, dictionaries suggest the derivation is from Welsh pen "head" and gwyn "white", including the Oxford English Dictionary,[19] the American Heritage Dictionary,[20] the Century Dictionary[21] and Merriam-Webster,[22] on the basis that the name was originally applied to the great auk, which had white spots in front of its eyes (although its head was black). Pen gwyn is identical in Cornish and in Breton. An alternative etymology links the word to Latin pinguis, which means "fat". In Dutch, the alternative word for penguin is "fat-goose" (vetgans see: Dutch wiki or dictionaries under Pinguïn), and would indicate this bird received its name from its appearance.

Mither

An English word possibly from the Welsh word "moedro" meaning to bother or pester someone. Possible links to the yorkshire variant "moither"

Eisteddfod

These are the words widely used by the Welsh English speakers, with little or no Welsh, and are used with original spelling (largely used in Wales but less often by others when referring to Wales):

afon

river

awdl

bach

literally "small", a term of affection

cromlech

defined at esoteric/specialist terms section above

cwm

a valley

crwth

originally meaning "swelling" or "pregnant"

cwrw

Welsh ale or beer

cwtch

hug, cuddle, small cupboard, dog's kennel/bed

cynghanedd

eisteddfod

broad cultural festival, "session/sitting" from eistedd "to sit" (from sedd "seat," cognate with L. sedere; see sedentary) + bod "to be" (cognate with O.E. beon; see be).[23]

Urdd Eisteddfod (in Welsh "Eisteddfod Yr Urdd"), the youth Eisteddfod

englyn

gorsedd

hiraeth

homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the lost or departed. It is a mix of longing, yearning, nostalgia, wistfulness, or an earnest desire.

hwyl

iechyd da

cheers, or literally "good health"

mochyn

pig

nant

stream

sglod, sglods

latter contrasts to Welsh plural which is sglodion. Chips (England); fries (universally); french-fried pototoes such as from takeaways (used in Flintshire)

twp/dwp

idiotic, daft

ych â fi

an expression of disgust

Look up Category:English terms derived from Welsh in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Look up Appendix:Glossary of Welsh Words of English Origin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Lists of English words of Celtic origin
  • List of English words of Brittonic origin
• Brittonicisms in English

• Oxford English Dictionary