Gael

Meaning

Noun

• A member of an ethnic group in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, whose language is one that is Gaelic.

Origin

• Borrowed from Irish Gael, Gaol, from earlier Gaoidheal, from Middle Irish Gaídel, from Old Irish Goídel ("Irishman"), a loanword from Old Welsh Guoidel ("wild man, warrior") (also recorded as a personal name in the Book of Llandaff), from Proto-Brythonic *guɨðel ("savage, woodsman"), from Proto-Celtic *wēdelos ("savage, woodsman"), related to *wēdus, from Proto-Indo-European *weydʰ- ("wood, wilderness") (cf. Old English wāþ ("hunt")). Goidel, unrelated to Gaul or Gallia.
• Medieval Irish traditions, including the Lebor Gabála Érenn, trace the origin of the Goídels to an eponymous ancestor, Goídel Glas, but this is no longer held to be the ultimate etymology of the word.