Etymograph

English

gallowglass

Gallowglass comes from Irish gallóglach ‘foreign soldier’, and goes back to Gall.

  1. Irishc. 1200–presentGall‘foreigner, non-Gaelic person’
  2. Irish, derivedc. 1200–presentgallóglach‘foreign soldier’
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606gallowglass

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Irishc. 1200–presentGall‘foreigner, non-Gaelic person’
  2. Irish, derivedc. 1200–presentgallóglach‘foreign soldier’
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606gallowglass

Earliest quotation: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “The multiplying villanies of nature / Do swarm upon…”

Every English word from Irish Gall

Today it means

noun A mercenary warrior élite among Gaelic-Norse clans residing in the Western Isles of Scotland and Scottish Highlands from the mid 13th century to the end of the 16th century.

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

Etymograph / Irish Gall / gallowglass

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