druid

Meaning

Noun

• One of an order of priests among certain groups of Celts before the adoption of Abrahamic religions.

Origin

• Borrowed from French druide, from Old French, via Latin Druidae, from Gaulish *druwits, from Proto-Celtic *druwits, from Proto-Indo-European *dóru ("tree") and *weyd-.
• The earliest record of the term in Latin is by Julius Caesar in the first century B.C. in his De Bello Gallico. The native Celtic word for "druid" is first attested in Latin texts as druides (plural) and other texts also employ the form druidae (akin to the Greek form). Cognate with the later insular Celtic words, Old Irish druí ("druid, sorcerer") and early Welsh dryw ("seer").