wales
/wɛjlz/ proper noun
Also a form of wale
Forms Waleses
- proper noun One of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, formerly a principality.
- proper noun (historical) The area in which the Welsh language and culture predominated, roughly coincident with the modern country.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A hamlet in Queen Camel parish, Somerset, England (OS grid ref ST6824).
- proper noun A village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SK4883).
- proper noun A minor city in Nome Census Area, Alaska.
- proper noun A town in Androscoggin County, Maine.
- proper noun A town in Hampden County, Massachusetts.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English Wales, from Old English Wēalas, plural of wealh (“Celt, Welsh person”), from Proto-West Germanic *walh, from Proto-Germanic *walhaz (“Celt, Roman”). Compare the second element in Cornwall, and also Gaul.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “wales”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details