List of Spanish words of Celtic origin

This is a list of Spanish words of Celtic origin. It is further divided into words that are known (or thought) to have come from Gaulish and those that have come from an undetermined Celtic source. Some of these words existed in Latin as loanwords from a Celtic source. Some of these words have alternate etymologies and may also appear on a list of Spanish words from a different language. Any form with an asterisk (*) is unattested and therefore hypothetical.

List

*abedul "birch"
*álamo "poplar"
*alondra "lark" (OSp aloa)
*alosa "shad fish"
*ambuesta
*arpende "arpent" (OSp arapende)
*bachiller
*beleño "henbane"
*berro "watercress"
*berrueco, barrueco "granitic crag, irregular pearl, spherical nodule"
*betún
*billar
*boque "billy-goat"
*OSp bren "bran; filth"
*breña "scrubland"
*brezo "heather"
*brigada
*británico
*bruja "witch"
*brusco
*bustar "cow pasture"
*cambriano
*camino
*camuza "chamois"
*cantiga
*cayo
*colmado
*colmena
*coñac
*&correa
*corro "circle"
*crema
*cueto "hillock"
*dolmen
*embajador
*embarazar
*engorar "to addle"
*ranela
*galgo
*gallardo
*gallego
*gancho
*garra "claw, talon"
*gavilla
*germánico
*glad(í/i)ola
*gladiador
*greña
*gubia
*güero
*lama "silt"
*lanza
*lanzar
*lata
*légamo "slime"
*legua
*lía
*llanta
*loja, locha
*losa "flagstone"
*mina
*paramo "moorland"
*pieza
*pingüino
*pote
*quejigo "oak"
*raya
*sábalo "shad"
*sabueso "hound"
*saya
*serna "ploughed field"
*soga
*taladro
*tanino
*tejon "badger"
*teneria
*tollo "mire, muddy place"
*tona
*tonel
*tonelada
*tranca "cudgel, club"
*trapo
*truhán "buffoon, jester"
*túnel
*varón
*vasallo
*vereda
*yiezgo "dwarf elder"

=Gaulish=

*abedul= a birch tree: Gallo-Latin "betulla", diminutive of Gaulish "betuā" "birch" (akin to Old Irish "bethe", Irish/Scottish "beith", Manx "beih", Welsh "bedw", Breton "bezv"), from *"bitu" "pitch, resin" (akin to Old Irish "bí, bíde" "pitch", Irish "bigh", Scottish "bìth" "resin, gum, birdlime").
**The a of abedul is by the influence of Spanish "abeto" "fir tree."
*abomaso= abomasum: from Modern Latin "abomasum" (first used in English in 1706) from Latin ab- + "omasum" "intestine of an ox," possibly from Gaulish.
*acarrear= to cart, to transport: from a- + "carro" (see carro below) + the verbal infinitive suffix "-ar".
*álamo "poplar"; akin to Irish "leamhán" "elm", Welsh "llwyf", Cornish "elowen", Breton "elv" "poplar"
*Old Spanish aloa, Spanish alondra "lark", from Gaulish "alauda" "crest lark"
*ambuesta, from Gaulish "ambibascia" "around the bundle"; cf. MIr "basc" "neckband", W "beich" "load"
*Old Spanish arapende "arpent"; akin to Old Irish "airchenn" "end, extremity", Welsh "arbenn" "chief", "erbyn" "against"
*barro "mud"; akin to Middle Irish "broch" "garbage", Welsh "barros" "bush"
*beleño "henbane"; akin to Welsh "bela" "henbane", Old Irish "béal" "sun"
*belga= of Belgium, a Belgian: from Latin "Belga", singular of "Belgae", from Gaulish "Belgae", possibly meaning "the threatening (ones), the swollen (ones)," the IE root (*)"bhelgh-", extension of (*)"bhel-" "to swell" [http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE51.html] .
*berro "watercress"; akin to Welsh "berwr", Breton/Cornish "beler", Old Irish "birar", Irish "biolar", Scottish "biolaire"
*berrueco "granite crag, nodule", from "ver" "over" and "rocca" "rock"
*breña "scrubland; highland forest", from *"brigna", from "briga" "fortress"; akin to Middle Irish "brí", g. "brig" "mountain", Scottish "breaghe" "fortified hill", Welsh "bre" "hill", "bryn" "id", Breton "bre" "hill", "bern" "brooch, prickles"
*brezo "heather"; akin to Welsh "grug", Cornish "grig", Middle Breton "groegan", Old Irish "froech", Irish "fraoch"
*brujo "sorceror", bruja "witch" (also Port "bruxa", Catal "bruixa"); akin to Middle Welsh "brith-ron" "magic wand", Breton "bre" "witch, magic", "breoù" "spells, charms", Old Irish "brigim" "to light up, illuminate", "Brigit" "shining one".
*brusco is from Italian "brusco" "sharp, tart, rough" and has two possible etymologies:
**either it is akin to Welsh "brysg" "nimble, lively", Irish/Scottish "briosg" "to be surprised, to jump for joy"
**or it is from Medieval Latin "bruscus" "butcher's broom plant", a blend of Latin "ruscus" "butcher's broom" and Late Latin "brucus" "heather"
*bustar "cow pasture", from Celt-Iberian "boustom" "byre, cowshed"
*cargar= to load, to charge, to charge with a crime, to carry: from Late Latin "carricare" "to load," from "carrus", see carro below.
*carril= a highway lane: from "carro", see carro below.
*carro= cart, cartload, car, streetcar, coach: from Latin "carrus" from Gaulish "carros", from the IE root (*)"kers-" "to run" [http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE228.html] .
*correa, from Gallo-Latin "corrigia" "strap"; akin to Old Irish "cuimrech" "fetter", Scottish "cuibhreach" "bond, chain", Welsh "cyfrwy" "saddle", Middle Welsh "kyfreieu" "leashes", Breton "kevre" "link, bond"
*corro "circle"; akin to Middle Irish "cor" "circle", "corrán" "sickle"
*cueto "hillock"; cf. Catalan "cot" "hill", akin to Gaulish "cotto" "hillock, curved, humpbacked", Old Cornish "coth" "old", Breton "coz" "id"
*engorar "to addle"; akin to Welsh "angad" "clutch, hand", craf"anc" "claw", Old Irish "écath" "fish hook"
*garra "claw, talon"; akin to Welsh "gar" "leg", Corn/Bret "garr" "leg, stalk, stem", Old Irish "gairri" "calves of the leg", Ir "cara"
*greña; akin to Old Irish "grend" "beard", Irish "greann", Welsh "grann" "eyelid", Breton "gourenn"
*gubia; akin to Old Irish "gulba" "sting", Scottish "gilb" "chisel", Old Welsh "gilb" "piercer", Welsh "gylf" "beak", Old Breton "golb" "beak", Breton "golv" "tailess"
*legua "league"; akin to Old Irish "lía (gen. líacc)" "stone", Welsh "llech" "slate", Breton "lec'h" "pebble"
*lía, légamo; akin to Old Irish "lige" "bed", Irish "luige", Welsh "lle" "room", Old Breton "lech" "bed", Breton "lec'h" "site, place"; liga "bed" > "bedrock" > "sediment"
*quejigo, from earlier cajigo, from Aragonese "caxico, caixico" "oak"; akin to Middle Irish "cas" "curly, gnarled", "cassaim" "to bend", Irish "cas" "to twist, turn, spin", Old Welsh "cascord", Welsh "cosgordd" "twist"
*sábalo "shad"; akin to Old Irish "sam" "summer", Welsh "haf", Breton "hañv", Cornish "hav", with typical Celtic m > b lenition
*sabueso (also Port "sabuja", Ital "segugio", Old Fr "seüz"); akin to Old Irish "sechim" "I follow", Irish "seach" "to follow", Middle Welsh "-hei" "seeker" (cf. cardot"ei" "beggar"), Old Breton "-heiat" "searcher, gatherer" (cf. cnou"heiat" "nut gatherer")
*saya; akin to Middle Irish "sén" "snare", "semmen" "rivet", Welsh "hoenyn" "snare", "hemin" "rivet"
*soga; akin to Welsh "syg" "chain", Breton "sug" "harness trace", Irish "suag" "rope", Scottish "sùgan" "straw rope"
*taladro; akin to Welsh "taradr" "drill", Irish "tarachair", Breton "tarar", Old Cornish "tarater"
*tejon "badger"; akin to Old Irish "tadg" "badger", Scottish "taghan" "marten"
*tollo "mire, muddy place"; akin to Irish "toll" "hole", Welsh "twll", Breton "toull"
*tona; akin to Old Irish "tonn" "skin, surface", Irish "tonn" "hide, skin", Welsh "ton" "skin", Cornish "ton" "surface", Breton "tonnen" "rind, surface"
*tranca "club, cudgel"; akin to Old Irish "tairinge" "iron nail, tine", Irish "tairne" "metal nail", Scottish "tairnge" "nail"
*truhán; akin to Old Irish "tróg" "miserable", Irish "trogha", Scottish "truagh", Welsh "tru" "wretched", Breton "truc" "beggar", Cornnish "troc" "miser; wretched"

=Celtic=

*abatir= to lower, to knock down, to humble: from Vulgar Latin "abbattuere" to demolish, knock down, overthrow: from ad- + Latin "battuere", see batir below. The d is assimilated to the b in battuere.
*abrochar= to button, fasten: from a- + "broche" "a button" (see broche below) + the verbal infinitive suffix "-ar".
*atolladero= a muddy place, bog: from "atollar" "to dirty to soil," from "a-" + "tollo" "mire, muddy place" (possibly from a Celtic word represented in Old Irish "toll" "hole, pit, grave") + the verbal infinitive suffix "-ar".
*bachiller= a bachelor: from Old French "bacheler" "bachelor, young man, young gentleman" (Modern French "bachelier"), from Medieval Latin "an advanced student, farmer," probably from Celtic, possibly related to Irish "bachlach" "rural dweller, farmer."
*batalla= battle, struggle: from Vulgar Latin (*)"battalia" "combat," from Late Latin "battualia" "military drill in fencing," from Latin "battuere", see batir below.
*batería= battery: from French "batterie" (originally referred to a battery of kitchen utensils made with a hammer), from "battre", from Latin "battere, battuere", see batir below.
*batir= to hit, strike: from Latin "battere, battuere", "to beat, strike," probably of Celtic origin.
*batuta= an orchestra conductor's baton: from Italian "battuta", from "battere", from Latin "battere, battuerre", see batir above.
*bohemio= a bohemian, of Bohemia, vagabond, eccentric, Gitano, Gypsy: from "bohemio/Bohemia" (from the belief that the Gitanos came from Bohemia), from Latin "bohemus", from Boihaemum, literally "place of the Boi/Boii," literally "the warriors, the strikers," from the IE root (*)"bhei-" "to strike" + Latin "-haemum" (see bohemio here).
*brécoles= broccoli:
*británico, from Latin "britannicus", from "Britannia"; akin to Welsh "pryd" "form", Irish "cruth"
*brocado= a brocade: from Italian "broccato", from "brocco" "a twist thread, shoot, sprout," see bróculi below.
*broche= brooch, clasp, clip, fastener: from Old French "broche" "a spit," from Vulgar Latin (*)"brocca" "a nail, spike," from Latin "broccus, brocchus" "a nail, projecting (adj.), buck-toothed (adj.)" from Celtic (*)"brokko-" "a pin, badger."
*bróculi= broccoli: from Italian "broccoli", plural of "broccolo", "sprout of cabbage/turnip" diminutive of "brocco" "shoot, sprout," from Vulgar Latin (*)"brocca", see broche above.
*combatir= to engage in combat, to fight: from com- + see batir above.
*debate= a debate, dispute, quarrel: from Old French "debat" "discussion, controversy, contest" (Modern French "débat"), from "debattre, debatre", "to fight, wrestle, struggle," from "de-" + "battre, batre" "to fight, strike," from Latin "battere, battuere", see batir above.
*embarazar= (1) to impregnate or (2) to hamper, or to hinder. From the Portuguese "embaraçar", which probably is a combination of the prefix "em-" (from Latin "im-" for "in-") with "baraça" "a noose", or "rope". "Baraça" originated before the Romans began their conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 218 BC.
*jabalina, from Middle French "javeline", diminutive of "javelot"; akin to Irish "gabhla" "spear", Welsh "gaflach" "dart", Breton "gavelod"
*teneria "tannery", from French "tannerie", from "tan" "tanbark"; akin to Breton "tann" "red oak", Old Cornish "tannen", Old Irish "teine" "holly", Irish "teine" "furze, gorse"

ee also

*Linguistic history of Spanish
*List of English words of Spanish origin

References

*"Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española" by Guido Gómez de Silva (ISBN 968-16-2812-8)
*"The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language": Fourth Edition. 2000.