Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or relating to Gaul, the ancient Gauls, or their language or customs.
  • noun The Celtic language of ancient Gaul.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Left-handed: same as gauche.
  • Pertaining to Gaul or the Gauls; Gallic.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective rare Pertaining to ancient France, or Gaul; Gallic.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to Gaul.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the barbarian tribes speaking Gaulish languages.
  • proper noun The Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul, long extinct.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Gaul +‎ -ish

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Gaulish.

Examples

  • The illustration shows this famous example of nos ancetres les Gaulois, as the French still call their Gaulish ancestors: long blond hair flowing, thick blond moustache with pointed ends, dashing red cloak flung over his shoulder, seated on a rearing white horse.

    Writer Unboxed » Blog Archive » The magic country of childhood reading 2009

  • This People is no longer called Gaulish; and it has wholly become braccatus, has got breeches, and suffered change enough: certain fierce German Franken came storming over; and, so to speak, vaulted on the back of it; and always after, in their grim tenacious way, have ridden it bridled; for German is, by his very name,

    The French Revolution Thomas Carlyle 1838

  • "He [Balzac] tells us that he _is of an old Gaulish family_ (You understand, 'Gaulish' -- one of Charlemagne's peers!

    Honore de Balzac, His Life and Writings

  • But after the Romans occupied their territories, speakers of Gaulish and Celtiberian, major Continental Celtic languages, gradually came to speak Latin instead.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • Gaulish, which, as you can see on our handy Indo-European languages diagram, is a now-extinct tongue of the Celtic branch of Indo-European languages.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • But after the Romans occupied their territories, speakers of Gaulish and Celtiberian, major Continental Celtic languages, gradually came to speak Latin instead.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • Gaulish, which, as you can see on our handy Indo-European languages diagram, is a now-extinct tongue of the Celtic branch of Indo-European languages.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • These natives, known as Romans, had beaten back Gaulish invaders earlier in the century and were now beginning to spread their power, by war and diplomacy, throughout the Italic peninsula.

    Alexander the Great Philip Freeman 2011

  • If he wasn't putting the hairy tribesmen of Germania to the sword, he was massacring the Gaulish ranks at Alesia in modern-day France or striking terror into the woad-daubed hordes of Britain.

    Boardroom Conquerors Philip Delves Broughton 2012

  • These natives, known as Romans, had beaten back Gaulish invaders earlier in the century and were now beginning to spread their power, by war and diplomacy, throughout the Italic peninsula.

    Alexander the Great Philip Freeman 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Vorenus's wife used this word when she wanted to have a slave.

    June 9, 2012