View source for List of English words of Welsh origin

{{Short description|None}}
{{use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
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 language|Cornish]] or [[Breton language|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]]).<ref>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."</ref>

==List==
{{Expand list|date=August 2008}}
[[File:Cardigan Welsh Corgi.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Welsh Corgi]]
<!-- Please cite a documented etymology before adding words to this list.  If you don't have one, put them on the talk page and someone will look them up.  Thanks! NB: OED is a SUBSCRIPTION site. Please do not link to subscription sites. -->

===As main word choice for meaning===
{{for|earlier words passing into English|List of English words of Brittonic origin}}
; [[bara brith]] : ''speckled bread''. Traditional Welsh bread flavoured with tea, dried fruits and mixed spices.
; [[bard]] : 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''
; [[cawl]] : a traditional Welsh soup/stew; Cornish ''kowl''
; [[coracle]] : from ''corwgl''.  This Welsh term was derived from the Latin ''corium'' meaning "leather or hide", the material from which coracles are made.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/corium|title=corium &#124; Etymology, origin and meaning of corium by etymonline|website=www.etymonline.com}}</ref>
; [[Welsh Corgi|corgi]] : from ''cor'', "dwarf" + ''gi'' ([[soft mutation]] of ''ci''), "dog".
; [[cwm (landform)|cwm]] : (very specific geographic sense today) or coomb/combe (dated). Cornish; ''komm''; passed into Old English where sometimes written 'cumb'
; [[flannel]] : 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".<ref name = ErnestWeekley1921>{{Citation | url = https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00weekuoft/ | title = An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English | first = Ernest | last = Weekley | year = 1921}}.</ref><ref name=WalterSkeat>{{Citation | url = https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00skeauoft | title = An Etymological Dictionary the English Language | first = Walter W | last = Skeat | year = 1888| publisher = Oxford Clarendon Press }}.</ref>
; [[flummery]] : from ''llymru''<ref name=ErnestWeekley1921 /><ref name=WalterSkeat />
; [[wikt:pikelet|pikelet]] : a type of small, thick pancake. Derived from the [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''bara pyglyd'', meaning "pitchy [i.e. dark or sticky] bread", later shortened simply to ''pyglyd'';<ref name=edwards>Edwards, W. P. ''The Science of Bakery Products'', Royal Society of Chemistry, 2007, p. 198</ref><ref name=luard>Luard, E. ''European Peasant Cookery'', Grub Street, 2004, p. 449</ref> The early 17th century lexicographer, [[Randle Cotgrave]], spoke of "our Welsh barrapycleds".<ref name=eds>''The folk-speech of south Cheshire'', English Dialect Society, 1887, p. 293</ref><ref name=nq>''[[Notes & Queries]]'', 3rd. ser. VII (1865), 170</ref> The word spread initially to the West Midlands of England,<ref name=wilson>Wilson, C. A. ''Food & drink in Britain'', Barnes and Noble, 1974, p. 266</ref> where it was anglicised to ''picklets'' and then to ''pikelets''.<ref name=nq/> The first recognisable crumpet-type recipe was for ''picklets'', published in 1769 by [[Elizabeth Raffald]] in ''[[The Experienced English Housekeeper]]''.<ref name=davidson>Davidson, A. ''The Penguin Companion to Food'', 2002, p. 277</ref>
; [[wrasse]] : a kind of sea fish (derived via Cornish ''wrach'', Welsh ''gwrach'' (meaning hag or witch)).<ref>{{Citation | title = Etymology online | url = http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wrasse | contribution = Wrasse}}.</ref>

===Esoteric or specialist===
; [[cist]] : (archaeological) a stone-lined coffin
; [[wikt:cromlech|cromlech]] : from ''crom llech'' literally "crooked flat stone"
; [[crwth]] : "a bowed lyre"
; [[kistvaen]] : from ''[[cist]]'' (chest) and ''maen'' (stone).
; [[wikt:lech|lech]] /lɛk/ : capstone of a cromlech, see above<ref>{{Citation | title = Etymology online | url = http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lech | contribution = Lech}}.</ref>
; tref : meaning “hamlet, home, town.”;<ref>{{Citation | title = Etymology online | url = http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=tref | contribution = Tref}}.</ref> Cornish ''tre''.

==Words with indirect or possible links==
Similar cognates across [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic (gaelic)]], [[Latin]], [[Old French]] and the other [[Brythonic languages|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 language|Old Welsh]] attributions for, in popular and technical topography, [[Tor (geography)|Tor]] (OW ''tŵr'') and [[cliff|crag]] (Old Welsh ''carreg'' or ''craig'') with competing Celtic derivations, direct and indirect, for the Old English antecedents.

; '''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, *''{{lang|cel|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|date=April 2012}}
;'''[[crumpet]]''': Welsh ''crempog, cramwyth'', Cornish ''krampoeth'' or Breton ''Krampouezh''; 'little hearth cakes'
; '''[[druid]]''': 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'')
;'''[[gull]]''': from either Welsh or Cornish;<ref>{{Citation | title = Etymology online | url = http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=gull&allowed_in_frame=0 | contribution = Gull}}.</ref> Welsh ''gwylan'', Cornish ''guilan'', Breton ''goelann''; all from O.Celt. *{{lang|cel|voilenno}}- "gull" (OE ''mæw'')
;'''[[penguin]]''': possibly from ''pen gwyn'', "white head". "The fact that the penguin has a black head is no serious objection."<ref name=ErnestWeekley1921 /><ref name=WalterSkeat /> 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 [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''pen'' "head" and ''gwyn'' "white", including the [[Oxford English Dictionary]],<ref name = "OED">[http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50174529?query_type=word&queryword=penguin&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=e9qK-031OnY-14734&hilite=50174529 Oxford English Dictionary]. Accessed 2007-03-21</ref> the [[American Heritage Dictionary]],<ref name="AHD">[http://www.wordnik.com/words/penguin/etymology American Heritage Dictionary at wordnik.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016075523/https://www.wordnik.com/words/penguin/etymology |date=2014-10-16 }} Accessed 2010-01-25</ref> the [[Century Dictionary]]<ref name="Century Dictionary">[http://www.wordnik.com/words/penguin/etymology Century Dictionary at wordnik.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016075523/https://www.wordnik.com/words/penguin/etymology |date=2014-10-16 }} Accessed 2010-01-25</ref> and [[Merriam-Webster]],<ref name = "MW">[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/penguin Merriam-Webster] Accessed 2010-01-25</ref> 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==
[[Image:National Eisteddfod Maes 2007.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Eisteddfod]]

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):
; afon : river
;[[awdl]] : ode
;bach : literally "small", a term of affection
;[[Dolmen|cromlech]] : defined at esoteric/specialist terms section above
;[[cirque|cwm]] : a valley
;[[crwth]] : originally meaning "swelling" or "pregnant"
;cwrw : Welsh ale or beer
;cwtch : hug, cuddle, small cupboard, dog's kennel/bed<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.southwales.ac.uk/story/926/|title=What is a 'cwtch'?|website=University of South Wales|date=26 February 2018}}</ref>
;[[cynghanedd]]
; [[eisteddfod]] : 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).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=eisteddfod|title=eisteddfod &#124; Search Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com}}</ref>
;;Urdd Eisteddfod (in Welsh "Eisteddfod Yr Urdd"), the youth Eisteddfod
;[[englyn]]
;[[gorsedd]]
; [[hiraeth]] : 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
;{{lang|italics=no|cy|sglod, sglods}} : latter contrasts to Welsh plural which is sglodion.  Chips (England); fries (United States); french-fried potatoes such as from takeaways (used in Flintshire)
;twp/dwp : idiotic, daft
;ych â fi : an expression of disgust

==See also==
{{Wiktionary|Category:English terms derived from Welsh}}
{{Wiktionary|Appendix:Glossary of Welsh Words of English Origin}}
* [[Lists of English words of Celtic origin]]
** [[List of English words of Brittonic origin]]
* [[Brittonicisms in English]]
{{-}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''

{{English words of foreign origin}}{{Welsh language}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:English words of Welsh origin}}
[[Category:Welsh language]]
[[Category:Lists of English words of Celtic origin|Welsh]]
[[Category:Wales-related lists|Words]]
[[Category:Welsh English]]