gall

gall
\ \ Gallbile’ [12], and by metaphorical extension ‘bitterness’ and ‘effrontery’, was borrowed from Old Norse gall. It gets its name ultimately from its colour, for its prehistoric Germanic ancestor *gallam or *gallon (which also produced German galle and Dutch gal) goes back to Indo-European *ghol-, *ghel-, which also gave English gold, jaundice, yellow, and yolk. The relationship of the two other English words gall (‘skin sore’ [14], whence the verbal use ‘exasperate’, and ‘plant swelling’ [14]) to gallbile’ and to each other is not clear. The immediate source of ‘skin sore’ was Middle Low German gallesore’, but ‘bile’ could easily have led via ‘astringent substance’ to ‘sore place’, and it may be that ultimately the Middle Low German word is connected with gallbile’. Gallplant swelling’ has been traced back via Old French galle to Latin gallaplant gall’, but some later descendants of this were used for ‘swelling on an animal’s leg’, further adding to the confusion.
\ \ Cf.GOLD, JAUNDICE, YELLOW, YOLK

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Gall — ist ein Familienname: Gall (Indianerhäuptling) ( 1840–1894), Kriegshäuptling der nordamerikanischen Hunkpapa Lakotas Bernd Erich Gall (* 1956), deutscher Maler und Konzeptkünstler Berthold R. Gall (* 1947), deutscher Politiker (CDU) Dorothee Gall …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gall — (g[add]l), n.[OE. galle, gal, AS. gealla; akin to D. gal, OS. & OHG. galla, Icel. gall, SW. galla, Dan. galde, L. fel, Gr. ?, and prob. to E. yellow. [root]49. See {Yellow}, and cf. {Choler}] 1. (Physiol.) The bitter, alkaline, viscid fluid found …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Gall — (g[add]l), n. [F. galle, noix de galle, fr. L. galla.] (Zo[ o]l.) An excrescence of any form produced on any part of a plant by insects or their larvae. They are most commonly caused by small Hymenoptera and Diptera which puncture the bark and… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • gall — gall·acetophenone; gall·anilide; gall; gall·ber·ry; mc·dou·gall; gall·anilid; gall·ing·ly; gall·ing·ness; …   English syllables

  • gall — ‘bile’ [12], and by metaphorical extension ‘bitterness’ and ‘effrontery’, was borrowed from Old Norse gall. It gets its name ultimately from its colour, for its prehistoric Germanic ancestor *gallam or *gallon (which also produced German galle… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • Gall — Gall, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Galled} (g[add]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. {Galling}.] [OE. gallen; cf. F. galer to scratch, rub, gale scurf, scab, G. galle a disease in horses feet, an excrescence under the tongue of horses; of uncertain origin. Cf. {Gall}… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • gall — Ⅰ. gall [1] ► NOUN 1) bold and impudent behaviour. 2) bitterness or cruelty. 3) an animal s gall bladder. 4) archaic the contents of the gall bladder; bile. ORIGIN Old English. Ⅱ …   English terms dictionary

  • Gall — (Franz Josef) (1758 1828) médecin allemand. Fondateur de la phrénologie, il étudia les fonctions du cerveau et leurs localisations. Gall (saint) (v. 550 645) moine irlandais. Venu évangéliser le continent, il résida en Haute Saône (France), puis… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • gall — [n] nerve, brashness acrimony, animosity, arrogance, bitterness, brass, brazenness, cheek*, chutzpah*, conceit, confidence, crust cynicism, effrontery, guts*, haughtiness, hostility, impertinence, impudence, insolence, malevolence, malice,… …   New thesaurus

  • Gall — Gall, v. i. To scoff; to jeer. [R.] Shak. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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