Few English words are known to come directly from Brittonic. More can be proven to derive from Gaulish, which arrived through Norman French, often strengthened in form and use by Church/state Latin.
This list omits words of Celtic origin coming from later forms of Brittonic and intermediate tongues:
Academia recognises beyond all reasonable doubt "fewer than ten" Brittonic loan-words in English that are neither historic nor obsolete.[2] The following list derives mainly from surveys of possible Brittonic loanwords in English by Richard Coates, Dieter Kastovsky, and D. Gary Miller. Etymologies from the Oxford English Dictionary are included to indicate the view of this authoritative (but not necessarily definitive) source, distinguishing between the first, second, third and online editions. Words that are the most widely accepted as Brittonic loans are in bold.
| Word | Possible Brittonic etymology | OED etymology | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| ass | Old British *assin or Old Irish *assan,[3] but more likely from Irish.[4][3] | Celtic (OED1) | historic (widely used in the Bible instead of donkey) |
| bannock | Etymologised by the OED as from Gaelic bannach, ? < Latin pānicium < pānis bread.[5] But possibly Old Brittonic *bannoc.[6] | Gaelic (OED1) | historic |
| beck | Agricultural implement with two hooks. Etymologised in the OED as from a 'Celtic root bacc-' (possibly via French).[7] The similar Old English becca "fork" has been proposed as a Brittonic loan, though this has been questioned.[4] | French (OED1) | technical |
| bin | Often considered to be from Old Brittonic *benna, but possibly a borrowing from Gallo-Roman.[6] | Probably Celtic (OED1) | common |
| brat | Possibly from a Brittonic root meaning "cloak, cloth" (Old Welsh *breth or *brath), cognate with Old Irish bratt. However, the OED and recent scholars see the English word as coming from Irish.[8][9] In Old English, bratt meant "cloak", but later came to mean "ragged garment", then "beggar's garment", and then "beggar's child", whence it attained its current meaning of "unruly child".[10][11] "Brat" is still used in parts of Northern England to refer to a rough working apron.[12] | Irish bratt (OED1) | common, pejorative |
| brock | From Brittonic *brocco-s, meaning "badger".[4][6] | Celtic (OED1) | technical |
| carr | From carreg such as in Welsh, meaning 'rock'.[6] | Old Northumbrian (OED1) | technical, local |
| coomb | From Old Brittonic *kumba, meaning "valley".[4][6] Frequently used as a place-name element in southwestern England. | Probably Brittonic (OED1) | local |
| crag | According to the OED 'apparently of Celtic origin: compare Irish and Gaelic creag, Manx creg, cregg, Welsh craig rock. None of these, however, exactly gives the English crag, cragg'.[13] | Celtic (OED1) | common |
| doe | Possibly from a Brittonic root *da-,[14] but could also be from Latin. | Latin dāma (OED1) | technical |
| dun | According to the OED, 'perhaps < Celtic: compare Irish and Gaelic donn brown, Welsh dwn'.[15] | Celtic (OED1) | common |
| gavelock | A kind of spear. Cf. 'Old Norse gaflak, gaflok neuter javelin (perhaps adopted < English), Welsh gaflach (said to mean ‘bearded arrow’), Irish gabhla lance, Old Northern French gavelot (12th cent.), gaverlot, gavrelot, garlot (= Central French javelot, Italian giavelotto ) javelin, whence Middle Dutch gavelot, gaverloot, Middle High German gabilôt'.[16] Now thought to have been borrowed into English from Old Norse, which borrowed it from Old Irish.[17] | Celtic (via Old French?) (OED1) | technical |
| hog | Possibly from Brittonic *hukk.[18] Given by the OED as a Celtic loan, related to Cornish "hoch"; Welsh "hwch," a pig or a sow, its connotation being a large instance. | Celtic (OED Online) | common |
| sark | Derived by Andrew Breeze from the Brittonic ancestor of Welsh seirch 'armour, trappings' (itself from Latin sarcīre 'patch').[19] | Germanic *sarki-z (OED1) | historic |
| tor | 'Generally held to be Celtic', per the OED, which cites Old Welsh twrr ‘heap, pile’ and Gaelic tòrr ‘hill of an abrupt or conical form, lofty hill, eminence, mound, grave, heap of ruins’.;[20] possibly via Latin turris (tower) such as Glastonbury Tor. Especially used in Devon.[21] | Celtic (OED1) | technical, local |
| wan | Possibly from Brittonic *wanno- and related to Welsh gwan, which has a similar meaning to the English word.[18] | Unclear (OED Online) | common |
| yan, tan, tethera etc. | And variants. Most common in northern England, and ultimately from Brittonic *oinā, *deŭai, *tisrīs, etc., though heavily corrupted over time. Whether this is a legitimate Brittonic survival or a later borrowing from Welsh and Cornish remains open to scholarly debate. | Unclear | local |
In extinct uses, seven main others are proposed, mainly by Andrew Breeze, seen in Old English. Though less controversial than others, some of the seven have been disputed: