English

The old Melbourne gaol

Noun

gaol ‎(plural gaols)

1. (Britain, Ireland, Australia) Alternative spelling of jail
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess:

     ‘[…] There's every Staffordshire crime-piece ever made in this cabinet, and that's unique. The Van Hoyer Museum in New York hasn't that very rare second version of Maria Marten's Red Barn over there, nor the little Frederick George Manning—he was the criminal Dickens saw hanged on the roof of the gaol in Horsemonger Lane, by the way—’

Usage notes

Gaol was the more common spelling between about 1760 and 1830,^[1] and is still preferred in proper names in some regions. Most Australian newspapers use jail rather than gaol, citing either narrower print width or the possibility of transposing letters in gaol to produce goal.^[2]

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:jail

Verb

gaol ‎(third-person singular simple present gaols, present participle gaoling, simple past and past participle gaoled)

1. (Britain) Alternative spelling of jail

Translations

Derived terms

• engaol
• gaoler

References

1. ↑ https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=gaol%2Cjail&year_start=1700&year_end=2000&corpus=15
2. ↑ 1996, Sally A. White, Reporting in Australia, page 275

Anagrams

• goal
• Olga

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish gáel ‎(“relationship”), from Proto-Celtic *gaylo- (compare Lithuanian gailùs ‎(“compassionate”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 ‎(gailjan, “gladden”), German geil ‎(“wanton”)).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ɡeːl̪ˠ/
• (Connacht, Ulster) IPA^(key): /ɡiːlˠ/

Noun

gaol m ‎(genitive singular gaoil, nominative plural gaolta)

1. relationship, kinship; kindred feeling
2. relation, kin; relative
3. relation between things, connection

Declension

Derived terms

• salachar gaoil ‎(“distant relationship”)
• neasghaol ‎(“next of kin”)
• gaolmhar ‎(“associated; relative, related; cognate”)

Mutation

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish gáel ‎(“relationship”), from Proto-Celtic *gaylo-; compare Lithuanian gailùs ‎(“compassionate”); Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 ‎(gailjan, “gladden”), German geil ‎(“wanton”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɯːɫ̪/

Noun

gaol m ‎(genitive singular gaoil, plural gaoil)

1. love, affection

   Tha gaol agam ort.‎ ― I love you. (literally "is love at me on you")

   Ghabh i trom ghaol air.‎ ― She fell madly in love with him.

Declension

Bare forms

Forms with the definite article

Usage notes

The love expressed by gaol is more intimate in nature than that of gràdh.

Derived terms

• gabh gaol air
• tha gaol agam ort

References

• Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, Alexander MacBain, Eneas Mackay, 1911