Etymograph

English

Gaul

Gaul comes from Old French Gaule.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400Gaule
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form
  4. EnglishtodayGaul

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400Gaule
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form
  4. EnglishtodayGaul

The story

Borrowed from French Gaule (‘Gaul’), from Middle French Gaule (‘Gaul’), from Old French Gaule, Waulle (“Gaul”, a term used to translate unrelated Latin Gallia (‘Gaul’)), from Frankish *Walha(land) (‘Gaul, Land of the Romans, foreigners’), from Proto-West Germanic *walh (‘foreigner, Roman, Celt’), from Proto-Germanic *walhaz (‘an outlander, foreigner, Celt’), probably of Celtic origin, from the same source as Latin Volcae (name of a Celtic tribe in South Germany, which later emigrated to Gaul). Despite their similar appearance, Latin Gallia is not the origin of French Gaule. During the evolution from Latin to French, stressed initial /ˈɡa-/ yielded /dʒa/ > /ʒa/. Latin gamba > French jambe), while unstressed final /-lia/ yielded /ʎə/ > /j/.

Every English word from Old French Gaule

Another origin of Gaul

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEGallus
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Gall
  3. EnglishtodayGaul

The change in spelling is due to the influence of the place-name Gaul, which is thought to be etymologically unrelated (see above).

Today it means

name A historical region of Western Europe referring to areas occupied by Celts during Roman times, roughly corresponding to modern France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerland, and parts of Northern Italy (Lombardy), the Netherlands, and Germany west of the Rhine.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old French Gaule / Gaul

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