French words from Gaulish
6 French words with Gaulish in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
crème
It is inherited from Old French craime, inherited from Late Latin crāma (6th century, Venantius Fortunatus), a word of Gaulish origin: from Gaulish; Bloch and Wartburg compare Welsh crammen…
lande
It is inherited from Gaulish *landa, reconstructed from Irish lann, Welsh llan and Cornish lan, which mostly in compounds mean “plain, open space” and “enclosure”, and also from Breton lann…
lieue
It is inherited from Old French liue, inherited from Late Latin leuca, also leuga, which Latin writers give as a Gaulish word, the Gaulish mile: from Gaulish. Wiktionary relates it to Proto-Celtic…
mine
1. The look is probably borrowed from Breton min (“beak, muzzle”), according to the TLFi, the Grand Robert and Rey, who all qualify it with “perhaps”. Pierre Guiraud proposes instead Old French mine…
pièce
It is inherited from Old French piece, inherited from Medieval Latin petia (“piece of land; small piece of beaten gold”), recorded from about 730; this is from Gaulish *pettia, restored after Welsh…
quai
It is inherited from Old French kay, a Norman–Picard word, probably inherited from Gaulish caio (“enclosure”), a Gaulish word recorded in a gloss. The Celtic languages support it: Old Irish cai…