welsh

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (intransitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

welsh, a. [AS. wælisc, welisc, from wealh a stranger, foreigner, not of Saxon origin, a Welshman, a Celt, Gael; akin to OHG. walh, whence G. wälsch or welsch, Celtic, Welsh, Italian, French, Foreign, strange, OHG. walhisc; from the name of a Celtic tribe. See Walnut.].

 Of or pertaining to Wales, or its inhabitants.  [1913 Webster]

Welsh flannel, a fine kind of flannel made from the fleece of the flocks of the Welsh mountains, and largely manufactured by hand. -- Welsh glaive, or Welsh hook, a weapon of war used in former times by the Welsh, commonly regarded as a kind of poleax. Fairholt. Craig. -- Welsh mortgage (O. Eng. Law), a species of mortgage, being a conveyance of an estate, redeemable at any time on payment of the principal, with an understanding that the profits in the mean time shall be received by the mortgagee without account, in satisfaction of interest. Burrill. -- Welsh mutton, a choice and delicate kind of mutton obtained from a breed of small sheep in Wales. -- Welsh onion (Bot.), a kind of onion (Allium fistulosum) having hollow inflated stalks and leaves, but scarcely any bulb, a native of Siberia. It is said to have been introduced from Germany, and is supposed to have derived its name from the German term wälsch foreign. -- Welsh parsley, hemp, or halters made from hemp. [Obs. & Jocular] J. Fletcher. -- Welsh rabbit. See under Rabbit.

welsh, n. 

•  The language of Wales, or of the Welsh people.  [1913 Webster]
•  The natives or inhabitants of Wales.  [1913 Webster]

  " The Welsh call themselves Cymry, in the plural, and a Welshman Cymro, and their country Cymru, of which the adjective is Cymreig, and the name of their language Cymraeg. They are a branch of the Celtic family, and a relic of the earliest known population of England, driven into the mountains of Wales by the Anglo-Saxon invaders."  [1913 Webster]

welsh, v. t. & i. 

 To cheat by avoiding payment of bets; -- said esp. of an absconding bookmaker at a race track.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

welsh, adj. & n.
--adj. of or relating to Wales or its people or language.
--n.
1 the Celtic language of Wales.
2 (prec. by the; treated as pl.) the people of Wales.

Idiom

Welsh corgi see CORGI. Welsh dresser a type of dresser with open shelves above a cupboard. Welsh harp a harp with three rows of strings. Welsh onion a species of onion, Allium fistulosum, forming clusters of bulbs. Welsh rabbit (or rarebit by folk etymology) a dish of melted cheese etc. on toast.

Etymology

OE Welisc, W{aelig}lisc, etc., f. Gmc f. L Volcae, the name of a Celtic people

welsh, v.intr. (also welch)
1 (of a loser of a bet, esp. a bookmaker) decamp without paying.
2 evade an obligation.
3 (foll. by on) a fail to carry out a promise to (a person). b fail to honour (an obligation).

Derivative

welsher n.

Etymology

19th c.: orig. unkn.

THESAURUS

welsh

back out, backpedal, backwater, crawfish out, cry off, default, disallow, dishonor, dodge, dog it, duck, duck duty, get out of, goldbrick, goof off, levant, malinger, not pay, not pull fair, protest, refuse to pay, renege, repudiate, resile, shirk, skulk, slack, slide out of, slip out of, sneak out of, soldier, stop payment

ROGET THESAURUS

welsh

Inhabitant

N inhabitant, resident, residentiary, dweller, indweller, addressee, occupier, occupant, householder, lodger, inmate, tenant, incumbent, sojourner, locum tenens, commorant, settler, squatter, backwoodsman, colonist, islander, denizen, citizen, burgher, oppidan, cockney, cit, townsman, burgess, villager, cottager, cottier, cotter, compatriot, backsettler, boarder, hotel keeper, innkeeper, habitant, paying guest, planter, native, indigene, aborigines, autochthones, Englishman, John Bull, newcomer, aboriginal, American, Caledonian, Cambrian, Canadian, Canuck, downeaster, Scot, Scotchman, Hibernian, Irishman, Welshman, Uncle Sam, Yankee, Brother Jonathan, garrison, crew, population, people, colony, settlement, household, mir, indigenous, native, natal, autochthonal, autochthonous, British, English, American, Canadian, Irish, Scotch, Scottish, Welsh, domestic, domiciliated, domiciled, naturalized, vernacular, domesticated, domiciliary, in the occupation of, garrisoned by, occupied by.