Gaelic

See also: gaèlic

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Gael +‎ -ic.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɡælɪk/ (when referring to Scottish Gaelic)
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • IPA(key): /ˈɡeɪlɪk/ (when referring to Irish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic)
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (Scotland) IPA(key): /ˈɡalɪk/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɡeɪlɪk/ (for all senses)
  • Rhymes: -eɪlɪk, -ælɪk

Proper noun

Gaelic

  1. Goidelic; any Goidelic language.
    • 2001 December 2, Giles Milton, “'The Riddle and the Knight'”, in The New York Times[1], archived from the original on 19 April 2022:
      By the time this mysterious knight died in the 1360s, his book was available in every European language, including Dutch, Gaelic, Czech, Catalan, and Walloon.
    • 2020, N. K. Jemisin, The City We Became, Orbit, page 342:
      She taught herself some Gaelic as a child. It’s hard to pronounce, and with no other Gaelic speakers around that she could practice on, she’s forgotten nearly all of what she learned.
    1. Irish Gaelic.
    2. Manx Gaelic.
    3. Scottish Gaelic.

Usage notes

  • When used without any modifier, Gaelic refers most often to Scottish Gaelic. Irish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic are more commonly called simply Irish and Manx.

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Adjective

Gaelic (not comparable)

  1. Of or relating to the Gaels, the Goidel peoples of Scotland and Ireland, and the Manx, or their languages.
    • 2012 August 13, Leslie Larson, “Up a family tree”, in CNN[2]:
      I began to study coats of arms, visit the Web sites of portrait galleries and look up the etymology of Gaelic names.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

Gaelic (uncountable)

  1. Ellipsis of Gaelic football.
    • 1995, John Sugden, Alan Bairner, Sport, Sectarianism and Society, page 42:
      Undoubtedly, the main reasons why many gifted young Irish sportsmen such as Niall Quinn, Kevin Moran and Frank Stapleton opted to play soccer instead of Gaelic is[sic] that soccer afforded them the opportunity to display and test their abilities in an international arena and earn a good living.

Further reading