Word.ws English Dictionary

gallowglass

gallowglass 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.

Noun

gallowglass (plural gallowglasses or gallowglass)

  1. (historical) 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.
    • The multiplying villanies of nature / Do swarm upon him--from the western isles/ Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

Forms of gallowglass

pluralgallowglasses
pluralgallowglass
alternative formgalloglass

Origin of gallowglass

From Irish gallóglach (“foreign soldier”), from Gall (“foreigner, non-Gaelic person”) + óglách (“soldier”).

Questions about gallowglass

What does gallowglass mean?
Gallowglass means 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.
What part of speech is gallowglass?
Gallowglass is a noun.
What is the plural of gallowglass?
The plural of gallowglass is gallowglasses.

Words near gallowglass in the dictionary

  1. galloways
  2. gallowed
  3. Gallowegian
  4. Gallowegians
  5. Gallowgate
  6. gallowglass
  7. gallowglasses
  8. Gallowhill
  9. gallowing
  10. gallows
  11. gallows bird

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gallowglass (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.

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