This is a list of
English language words of
Welsh language origin. As with the Goidelic languages, the Brythonic tongues are close enough for possible derivations from
Cumbric,
Cornish or
Breton in some cases.
Beyond the acquisition of common nouns, there are numerous English toponyms, surnames, personal names or nicknames derived from Welsh (see
Celtic toponymy,
Celtic onomastics).[1]
from Old Celtic bardos, either through Welsh bardd (where the bard was highly respected) or Scottish bardis (where it was a term of contempt); Cornish bardh
the
Oxford English Dictionary says the etymology is "uncertain", but Welsh gwlanen = "flannel wool" is likely. An alternative source is Old French flaine, "blanket". The word has been adopted in most European languages. An earlier English form was flannen, which supports the Welsh etymology. Shakspeare's
The Merry Wives of Windsor contains the term "the Welsh flannel".[3][4]
a type of small, thick pancake. Derived from the
Welshbara pyglyd, meaning "pitchy [i.e. dark or sticky] bread", later shortened simply to pyglyd;[5][6] The early 17th century lexicographer,
Randle Cotgrave, spoke of "our Welsh barrapycleds".[7][8] The word spread initially to the West Midlands of England,[9] where it was anglicised to picklets and then to pikelets.[8] The first recognisable crumpet-type recipe was for picklets, published in 1769 by
Elizabeth Raffald in The Experienced English Housekeeper.[10]
Similar cognates across
Goidelic (gaelic),
Latin,
Old French and the other
Brittonic families makes isolating a precise origin hard. This applies to cross from Latin crux, Old Irish cros overtaking Old English rood ; appearing in Welsh and Cornish as Croes, Krows. It complicates
Old Welsh attributions for, in popular and technical topography,
Tor (OW tŵr) and
crag (Old Welsh carreg or craig) with competing Celtic derivations, direct and indirect, for the Old English antecedents.
adder
The Proto-Indo-European root netr- led to Latin natrix, Welsh neidr, Cornish nader, Breton naer, West Germanic nædro, Old Norse naðra, Middle Dutch nadre, any of which may have led to the English word.
bow
May be from Old English bugan "to bend, to bow down, to bend the body in condescension," also "to turn back", or more simply from the Welsh word bwa. A reason for the word Bow originating from Welsh, is due to Welsh Bowmen playing a major role in the
Hundred Years War, such as the
Battle of Crécy,
Battle of Agincourt and the
Battle of Patay, and the bows were often created in Wales.[14][15]
coombe
meaning "valley", is usually linked with the Welsh cwm, also meaning "valley", Cornish and Breton komm. However, the OED traces both words back to an earlier Celtic word, *kumbos. It suggests a direct
Old English derivation for "coombe".
(Coumba, or coumbo, is the common western-alpine vernacular word for "glen", and considered genuine gaulish (celtic-ligurian branch). Found in many toponyms of the western Alps like Coumboscuro (Grana valley), Bellecombe and Coumbafréide (Aoste), Combette (Suse), Coumbal dou Moulin (Valdensian valleys). Although seldom used, the word "combe" is included into major standard-french dictionaries. This could justify the celtic origin thesis).[citation needed]
It has been suggested that crockery might derive from the Welsh crochan, as well as the Manx crocan and Gaelic crogan, meaning "pot". The OED states that this view is "undetermined". It suggests that the word derives from Old English croc, via the
Icelandickrukka, meaning "an earthenware pot or pitcher".
From the Old Celtic derwijes/derwos ("true knowledge" or literally "they who know the oak") from which the modern Welsh word derwydd evolved, but travelled to English through Latin (druidae) and French (druide)
or at least the modern form of the word "iron" (c/f Old English ísern, proto-Germanic *isarno, itself borrowed from proto-Celtic), appears to have been influenced by pre-existing Celtic forms in the British Isles: Old Welsh haearn, Cornish hoern, Breton houarn, Old Gaelic íarn (Irish iaran, iarun, Scottish iarunn)[17]
from Welsh Llan Cornish Lan (cf.
Launceston, Breton Lann); Heath; enclosed area of land, grass about a
Christian site of worship from Cornish Lan (e.g.
Lanteglos, occasionally Laun as in Launceston) or Welsh Llan (e.g.
Llandewi)[18]
possibly from pen gwyn, "white head". "The fact that the penguin has a black head is no serious objection."[3][4] It may also be derived from the
Breton language, or the
Cornish Language, which are all closely related. However, dictionaries suggest the derivation is from
Welshpen "head" and gwyn "white", including the
Oxford English Dictionary,[19] the
American Heritage Dictionary,[20] the
Century Dictionary[21] and
Merriam-Webster,[22] on the basis that the name was originally applied to the
great auk, which had white spots in front of its eyes (although its head was black). Pen gwyn is identical in Cornish and in Breton. An alternative etymology links the word to Latin pinguis, which means "fat". In Dutch, the alternative word for penguin is "fat-goose" (vetgans see: Dutch wiki or dictionaries under Pinguïn), and would indicate this bird received its name from its appearance.
Mither
An English word possibly from the Welsh word "moedro" meaning to bother or pester someone. Possible links to the Yorkshire variant "moither"
In Welsh English
These are the words widely used by
Welsh English speakers, with little or no Welsh, and are used with original spelling (largely used in Wales but less often by others when referring to Wales):
broad cultural festival, "session/sitting" from eistedd "to sit" (from sedd "seat," cognate with L. sedere; see sedentary) + bod "to be" (cognate with O.E. beon; see be).[24]
Urdd Eisteddfod (in Welsh "Eisteddfod Yr Urdd"), the youth Eisteddfod
homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the lost or departed. It is a mix of longing, yearning, nostalgia, wistfulness, or an earnest desire.
hwyl
iechyd da
cheers, or literally "good health"
mochyn
pig
nant
stream
sglod, sglods
latter contrasts to Welsh plural which is sglodion. Chips (England); fries (universally); french-fried potatoes such as from takeaways (used in Flintshire)
^Max Förster Keltisches Wortgut im Englischen, 1921, cited by
J.R.R. Tolkien, English and Welsh, 1955. "many 'English' surnames, ranging from the rarest to the most familiar, are linguistically derived from Welsh, from place-names, patronymics, personal names, or nick-names; or are in part so derived, even when that origin is no longer obvious. Names such as Gough, Dewey, Yarnal, Merrick, Onions, or Vowles, to mention only a few."