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.
embajador "ambassador" and this from gaulish ambi-actos "who serves around".
jabalina, from Middle French javeline, diminutive of javelot; akin to Irish gabhla "spear", Welsh gaflach "dart", Breton gavelod
tenería "tannery", from French tannerie, from tan "tanbark"; akin to Breton tann "red oak", Old Cornish tannen, Old and Modern Irish tinne "mass of metal from furnace; metal bar, ingot"; (ogham letter) "holly, elder".
pingüino "penguin" from fr. pingouin.
tonel "barrel" from French tonel and this from Celtic *tunna "skin"
abedul "birch tree" from late Latin betula "birch", diminutive of Gaulish betuā "birch"; akin to Old Irish bethe, Irish/Scottish beith, Manx beih, Welsh bedw, Breton bezv. The a of abedul is by the influence of Spanish abeto "fir tree.
alondra "lark" (OSp aloa), from Gaulish alauda "crest lark", derivative of *ala "swan", akin to Irish eala and Welsh alarch
ambuesta, (also Catalan embosta, almosta), from Gaulish ambostā "hands together"; akin to Old Irish imbas
amelga, (also Galician embelga) from *ambelica, from ambi "around" + el- "to go" + -ica; akin to Old Irish adellaim "to visit, go to", Welsh elo "I went", Cornish ella "he was going"
añicos "smithereens" (also Galician anaco, Old Catalan anyoc), from *ann- + -acos
Old Spanish arapende "arpent"; akin to Old Irish airchenn "end, extremity", Welsh arbenn "chief" and erbyn "against", Cornish erbynn "id."
banzo "cross-bar", (also Galician banzo) from *wankio "bar, beam"; akin to Irish féige "ridgepole"
baranda "railing, balustrade", (also Portuguese varanda, Catalan barana) from *varandā, from *rannā "part, portion"; Welsh rhan, Cornish/Breton rann, Irish roinn
beleño "henbane", from belenion (Pseudo-Aristotle, De plantis, 7.821); akin to Welsh bela "henbane", Old Irish béal "sun"
belga "of Belgium, a Belgian": from LatinBelga, singular of Belgae, from Gaulish Belgae, possibly meaning "the threatening (ones), the swollen (ones)," the IEroot *bʰel-ǵʰ- (cf. Dutch belgen 'to worsen', originally 'to swell'), enlargement of *bʰel- "to swell";[1] akin to Old Irish bolgaid '(s)he swells'.
berrendo "bicolor; pronghorn", originally just "pronghorn", from *barrovindos "white-tipped", from *barros "tip, peak" + vindos "white"; akin to Irish/Breton barr "peak", Cornish/Welsh bar "id."; also Old Irish find, Ir/Sc fionn, Welsh gwyn, Breton gwenn
berro "watercress", (also Galician berro) from *beruro; akin to Welsh berwr, Breton/Cornish beler, Old Irish birar, Irish biolar, Scottish Gaelic biolaire
berrueco "granite crag, cliff", from ver "over" and rocca "rock"
berzo (dial.) (also Old Spanish brizo, Galician berce), from *bertium "load"; akin to Irish/Scottish beárt "load", bertaim "to rock"
bezo "big lip, lip blubber" (also Galician beizo "lip"), from OSp beço "snout", from *beiccion "animal's mouth", from *baicciō "to yell"; akin to Old Irish béccim, Irish béic ‘yell, roar’, Scottish beuc, Welsh beichio ‘to low, sob’, Cornish begi ‘to bray’, Breton begiad ‘to bleat’
bodollo (Huesca) "pruning hook", from *vidubion (also French vouge, Occitan vezoig); akin to Welsh gwyddif "billhook", Cornish gwydhyv "id.", Irish fiodhbha "sickle", Breton gouzifiad "boar-spear"
centollo "spider crab", (also Galician centolo, Portuguese santola) from Celtic cintu "first" + ollos "large, big", referring to the fact it is larger than more common species of crabs; akin to Breton kent "before", Cornish kens, kyns "before, early", Welsh cynt "id.", Irish céad "first"; and Middle Irish oll "big, large", Welsh/Cornish oll "all, entire"
colmena "beehive" (also Portuguese colmeia, Galician colmea), from *colmēnā "made from straw", from *colmos "straw" (cf. Leonese cuelmo "straw"); akin to Breton kolo "stalk" (MBr koloff)
combleza "mistress, home-wrecker", (also Old Galician combooça) from OSp comblueça ~ conborça, from *combortia, from *com-berō "to take"; akin to Welsh cymeryd, cymryd 'to take', Breton kemer, komer, Cornish kemeres 'to take', Irish cobirth 'help'
combo "bent", from *combos; akin to
correa= belt, from Gallo-Latin corrigia "strap" (compare also Galician corre "twisted twig using as a bond"); akin to Old Irish cuimrech "fetter", Scottish cuibhreach "bond, chain", Welsh cyfrwy "saddle", Middle Welsh kyfreieu "leashes", Cornish kevrenn "fastening, link", Breton kevre "link, bond"
corro "circle"; akin to Middle Irish cor "circle", corrán "sickle", Welsh cor "circle", Cornish kor "hedge, boundary; turn, shift"
cresa "maggot" (also Galician careixa), older queresa "maggot", from *carisia "decay"; akin to Old Irish doro-chair "to fall", Irish torchair, Scottish torchuir
duerna "trough" (also Galician dorna), from *durnos "hand"; akin to Irish dorn, Welsh dwrn, Breton dourn
engorar "to addle", in OSp "to brood" (also Galician gorar "to brood, sit on eggs"); akin to Old Irish gorid 'to warm', Welsh/Cornish gori 'to brood, sit (on eggs)', Breton goriñ
galga "large stone", from *gallicā, from *gallos; akin to Old Irish gall 'stone pillar', gallán 'standing stone'
gancho "hook" (also French jachère "fallow field"), from *ganscio "small curved branch"; akin to Old Irish gesca "branch"
garra "claw, talon"; akin to Welsh gar "leg", Corn/Bret garr "leg, stalk, stem", Old Irish gairri "calves of the leg", Irish cara
garza "heron" (also Portuguese garça), from *cárcia; akin to Welsh crychydd, Cornish kerghydh, Breton kerc'heiz
gavilla "handful", from gabella, from *gabali; akin to Irish gabhaim "to take", Welsh gafael "to grasp, hold", Cornish gavel; also Welsh gefel "tongs", Breton/Cornish gevel, Old Irish gabál
greña (OSp greñón "hair, beard"), from *grennos; akin to Old Irish grend "beard", Irish greann, Welsh grann "eyelid", Breton gourenn
gubia "gouge" (also Portuguese goiva, French gouge), from *gulbia; akin to Old Irish gulba "sting", Scottish gilb "chisel", Old Welsh gilb "piercer", Welsh gylf "beak", Old Breton golb "beak", Breton golv "tailless"
güero ~ huero "vain, vacuous, without substance", from dialectal gorar "to brood, sit on eggs" (see engorar above)
legua "league", from Late Latin leucas; akin to Old Irish líe (gen. líac) "stone", Irish liag
lía "dregs, lees", légamo "slime, mud" (liga ~ lidia ~ liria "birdlime", Basque lekeda), from *liga; Old Breton leh 'silt, deposit', Breton lec'hi 'dregs', Welsh llai 'silt, deposit'
Old Spanish mañero 'sterile, infertile', from *mannuarius, derivative of Latin mannus 'dwarf horse' (cf. Portuguese maninho 'sterile'), from Gaulish *mandos (cf. Basque mando 'mule')
mina "mine", from *mēna (also Asturian mena "vein"), from *meina "ore"; akin to Welsh mwyn "ore", Cornish moen, Irish míanach
páramo "moor", attested as parami, from *par- + -amus (superlative).[3]
pinzón "finch" (var. pinchón; also Catalan pinsà, Occitan quinçon, Tuscan pincióne) from Gaulish pinciō(ne); akin to Welsh pinc, Breton pint
quejigo "Portuguese oak", from earlier cajigo, from Asturian caxigu (also Aragonese caxico, caixico "oak", Galician caxigo "Portuguese oak"), from *cass- (cf. Gascon casse, French chêne) + -ico; akin to Middle Irish cas "curly, gnarled", cassaim "to bend", Irish cas "to twist, turn, spin", Old Welsh cascord, Welsh cosgordd "twist"
rodaballo "brill, seabass", from *rota-ballos "round-limbed", from rota "wheel, circle" + ballos "limb"; akin to Old Irish roth, Welsh rhod, Cornish ros, Breton rod and Irish ball "limb", Welsh balleg ‘sack, purse’, Cornish ballek ‘bow-net’
sábalo "shad" (also Portuguese sável, Catalan saboga, Galician sable), from *sabolos; akin to Old Irish sam "summer", Welsh haf, Breton hañv, Cornish hav, with typical Celtic m > b lenition
serna "tilled or sown field" (also Old Galician senara, Galician senra, Portuguese seara), from *senaro, from *sen "separate, apart" + *aro "field"; akin to Old Irish sain "alone", Welsh han "other", Cornish honan "self, one's own", and Irish ár, Welsh âr, Cornish/Breton ar.
soga (also Portuguese/Italian soga, Old French seuwe), from Gaulish *sōca; akin to Welsh/Cornish syg "chain", Breton sug "harness trace", Irish suag "rope", Scottish sùgan "straw rope"
taladro, (also Galician trado) from *taratron; akin to Welsh taradr "drill", Irish tarachair, Cornish tarder, Breton tarar
tarugo, from *tarūcon; akin to Scottish tarag, tarrag "nail, stud"
tejón "badger" (also Portuguese texugo, Catalan teixó, toixó, Old French taisson, Italian tasso), from OSp texón, from Gaulish *taskios; akin to Old Irish (person's name) Tadg "badger", Scottish taghan "marten", Old Welsh (person's name) Teuhuant
terco "stubborn" (also Catalan enterch 'stiff, rigid', Béarnais terc 'cruel, treacherous', Italian terchio, tirchio 'miserly, crude'), from *tercos; akin to Middle Irish terc, Welsh taerc 'miserly, scarce'
tollo "mire, muddy place" (also Catalan toll "pool in a river", Galician tol "dam"), from *tollos; akin to Irish/Cornish toll "hole", Welsh twll, Breton toull
tona, from Galician tona "skin, bark", from Gaulish *tunna, "skin, hide, rind"; akin to Old Irish tonn "skin, surface", Irish tonn "hide, skin", Welsh ton "skin", Cornish ton "surface", Breton tonnen "rind, surface". From the same source came Late Latin tunna 'wine-cask',[4] whence French tonne 'tun' (wine-cask)', tonneau 'barrel'.
tranca "club, cudgel" (also Portuguese/Galician tranca "door bolt"), from *tarinca; akin to Old Irish tairinge "iron nail, tine", Irish tairne "metal nail", Scottish tairnge "nail"
truhán "jester, baffoon" (also Portuguese truão, Galician trogo "sadness, pity", French truand "vagrant, beggar"); akin to Old Irish tróg "miserable", Irish trogha, Scottish truagh, Welsh tru "wretched", Breton truc "beggar", Cornish troc "miser; wretched"
varga (also Portuguese/Catalan barga "wattle hut", dial. French barge "haybale, straw heap"), from barga (Lat fundus bargae, in Tabula Veleiana, c. a.d. 2nd century); akin to Middle Irish barc "fort; woodhouse"
yezgo, yiezgo "elder" (also Asturian eldu, Galician engo, Occitan augué, êgou), from older yedgo, iedgo, from *edecus, alteration of Gaulish odecus, odicus (Marcellus Empiricus, De medicamentis liber, 7.13), which was also loaned into German Attich "dwarf elder, danewort", Old Saxonaduk, Dutch hadik.
Loanwords
abatir to lower, to knock down, to humble: from Vulgar Latinabbattuere to demolish, knock down, overthrow: from ad- + Latinbattuere, see batir below. The d is assimilated to the b in battuere.
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 Irishtoll "hole, pit, grave") + the verbalinfinitivesuffix-ar.
bateríabattery: from Frenchbatterie (originally referred to a battery of kitchen utensils made with a hammer), from battre, from Latinbattere, battuere, see batir below.
batir to hit, strike: from Latinbattere, battuere, "to beat, strike," probably of Celtic origin.
bohemio a bohemian, of Bohemia, vagabond, eccentric, Gitano, Gypsy: from bohemio/Bohemia (from the belief that the Gitanos came from Bohemia), from Latin Boihaemum, literally "place of the Boi/Boii", from tribal name Boii + -haemum from Germanic *xaim- "home" (see bohemiohere). The etymology of Boii is disputed, either "cattle-owners" or "warriors, strikers".
debate a debate, dispute, quarrel: from Old Frenchdebat "discussion, controversy, contest" (Modern Frenchdébat), from debattre, debatre, "to fight, wrestle, struggle," from de- + battre, batre "to fight, strike," from Latinbattere, battuere, see batir above.
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 and Modern Irish tinne "mass of metal from furnace; metal bar, ingot; (ogham letter) "holly, alder".
^This word is known in the native lexicon of the Celtiberian region in Roman times in names and adjectives: PARAMI (CIL II 266), and the town Segontia Paramica. The word could belong to a Hispanic Celtic language which preserved the phoneme /p/ or to another Western Indo-European language as Lusitanian (X. Ballester "Páramo' o del problema de la */P/ en celtoide", Studi celtici 3, 2004, 45-56).
Cornelius Joseph Crowly, "New Linguistic Date for Hispano-Celtic: An Evaluation", Bono Homini Donum: Essays in Historical Linguistics in Memory of J. Alexander Kerns, vol. 1, ed., Yoël L. Arbeitman & Allan R. Bomhard (Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1981), pp. 73–85.
Guido Gómez de Silva, Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española (ISBN968-16-2812-8)
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edn. (2000).
