Word.ws English Dictionary

Gael

/ɡeɪ̯l//ɡeɪ̯l/

Gael noun: a member of an ethnic group in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, whose language is one that is Gaelic.

Noun

Gael (plural Gaels)

  1. A member of an ethnic group in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, whose language is one that is Gaelic.
    • For the great Gaels of Ireland
      Are the men that God made mad,
      For all their wars are merry,
      And all their songs are sad.1911, G.K. Chesterton, The Ballad of the White Horse, Book II: The Gathering Of The Chiefs
    • For England knows and England fears the famous Northern Gael and that's another reason why we'll free our lads in Crumlin Jail.1974 January 1, “Our Lads In Crumlin Jail” (track 2, 01:38 from the start), in Kathlenn Largey (music), The Winds Are Singing Freedom, performed by Barleycorn

Proper noun

Gael (plural Gaels)

  1. A male given name.

Forms of Gael

Noun
pluralGaels
Proper noun
pluralGaels

Origin of Gael

Borrowed from Irish Gael, alt. Gaol, from earlier Gaoidheal, cognate with Scottish Gaelic Gàidheal and Manx Gael, from Middle Irish Gaídel, from Old Irish Goídel (“Irishman”), a loanword from Old Welsh Guoidel (“wild man, warrior”) (also recorded as a personal name in the Book of Llandaff), from Proto-Brythonic *Guɨðel (“savage, woodsman”), from Proto-Celtic *weidelos (“savage, woodsman”), related to *weidus (“wild”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“wood, wilderness”) (cf. Old English wāþ (“hunt”)). Doublet of Goidel. False cognate of English Gaul, Gallia. Medieval Irish traditions, including the Lebor Gabála Érenn, trace the origin of the Goídels to an eponymous ancestor, Goídel Glas, but this is no longer held to be the ultimate etymology of the word.

Phrases with Gael

Words that rhyme with Gael

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about Gael

What does Gael mean?
Gael means a member of an ethnic group in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, whose language is one that is Gaelic.
What part of speech is Gael?
Gael can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce Gael?
Gael is pronounced /ɡeɪ̯l/.
What is the plural of Gael?
The plural of Gael is Gaels.

Words near Gael in the dictionary

  1. Gaeilgeoirí
  2. Gaekwad
  3. Gaekwads
  4. Gaekwar
  5. Gaekwars
  6. Gael
  7. Gaeldom
  8. gaelgóir
  9. gaelgóirs
  10. Gaelic
  11. Gaelic coffee

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Gael (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gale.wav.

Cite this entry: “Gael.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gael. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.