celt
pronunciation
How to pronounce celt in British English:
UK [selt]
How to pronounce celt in American English:
US [sɛlt]
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- Noun:
- a member of a European people who occupied Britain and Spain and Gaul in pre-Roman times
Word Origin
- celt (n.)
- "stone chisel," 1715, from a Latin ghost word (apparently a misprint of certe) in Job xix:24 in Vulgate: "stylo ferreo, et plumbi lamina, vel celte sculpantur in silice;" translated, probably correctly, in KJV as, "That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever." But assumed by others to be a genuine carving tool, partly because it was in the Bible, and thereafter adapted by archaeologists as a name for a class of prehistoric implements.
- Celt (n.)
- also Kelt, c. 1600, from Latin Celta, singular of Celtae, from Greek Keltoi, Herodotus' word for the Gauls (who also were called Galatai). Used by the Romans of continental Gauls but apparently not of the British Celtic tribes. Originally in English in reference to ancient peoples; extention to their modern descendants is from mid-19c., from French usage.
Example
- 1. Don 't anger him . He is a celt .
- 2. Iberian celt horsemen from a 4th century bc vase .
- 3. " The dream of the celt " is a meticulously researched fictional biography and a clever psychological novel .
- 4. Fantastic celt irish music played on the harp .
- 5. Classical allusion decorative pattern : arab and celt style are accurate .