gala

Etymology

It is borrowed from French gala or its source Italian gala;^[2][3][4] Merriam-Webster and Barnhart take it from the Italian word, and Barnhart has the French one as a later source.^[5][6] The Shorter Oxford and Hoad trace the Italian word through Spanish gala to Old French gale (“rejoicing, merriment”),^[3][4] from galer (“to rejoice, make merry”),^[6][7][4] which is probably of Germanic origin,^[8][4] from Frankish *wala (“well”), a cognate of well.^[6][9] The Old French verb is also the source of gallant.^[10][7][6] Wiktionary suggests that French kept the final -a to keep the word apart from gale, scabies.^[1] Barnhart also compares gale (“song, singing, merriment”), borrowed from the same Old French noun.^[6] Klein instead derives the word from the phrase Spanish vestido de gala (“robe of state”), and the Spanish noun from an Arabic word for a robe of honour that rulers gave to their favourites;^[11] Ayto follows him, and Etymonline reports the suggestion.^[12][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Festive dress or attire: 1625, in a letter of Aston printed in the Cabala (1654): "Whereupon this King and the whole Court put on Galas".^{[2][12][6][7]}

Semantic evolution

The sense of finery survived into the 19th century in the phrase in gala, in festive dress, after French en gala,^[2][3][12] and is now obsolete except in that phrase.^[2][3] In the 18th century the word also meant festivity or rejoicing in general, especially in days of gala, from 1716 in a letter of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu until 1809.^[2][3] The current sense, a festive occasion marked by display and finery, is first recorded in Sheridan's School for Scandal (1777) according to Barnhart and Etymonline,^[6][7] and in 1800 in the OED;^[2] Hoad dates it to the 19th century.^[4] Used before another noun, as in gala day, the word served as an adjective, festive, from 1762, in Sterne's Tristram Shandy;^[6][7] the OED records the predicative adjective "festive, jolly", chiefly North American, from 1954.^[2] In British use a gala is also a sports meeting with several events, especially in swimming.^[8][5]

Timeline

• 1625 – festive dress, finery.^[2][6]
• 1716 – festivity, rejoicing (until 1809).^[2]
• 1762 – used as an adjective, festive.^[6]
• 1777 – a festive occasion, in Sheridan's School for Scandal.^[6][7]
• 1800 – a festive occasion with display of finery.^[2]
• 1858 – gala, a fabric, short for Galashiels.^[2]
• 1954 – adjective, festive, jolly (chiefly North American).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A festive celebration or special entertainment, often a formal one: The opera house opened its season with a gala.^[8][5][2]
2. (chiefly British) A sports meeting with contests in several events, especially in swimming.^[8][5]
3. in gala: in festive or showy dress.^[2][3]

Adjective

1. Festive; suited to or marked by a celebration: a gala dinner for the retiring director.^[5][8]

Related words

• gallant
• gallantry

Usage notes

The OED records a separate gala, a fabric, short for the name of Galashiels, the Scottish town where it was made (1858).^[2] In British English the word is pronounced /ˈɡɑːlə/ or /ˈɡeɪlə/.^[2][8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black