This is a list of Spanish words of Celtic origin. It is further divided into words that are known (or thought) to have come from Gaulish and those that have come from an undetermined Celtic source. Some of these words existed in Latin as loanwords from a Celtic source. Some of these words have alternate etymologies and may also appear on a list of Spanish words from a different language. Any form with an asterisk (*) is unattested and therefore hypothetical.
List
From English:
From French:
- bachiller "graduate", from French bachelier and this from late Latin baccalaureatus "bachelor".
- batalla "battle". From bataille from battualia "military drill in fencing," from Latin battuere, see batir below.
- billar "billiard".
- brigada "brigade"
- broche "brooch, clasp, clip". From Old French broche "a spit," from Vulgar Latin (*)brocca "a nail, spike," from Latin broccus, brocchus "a nail, projecting (adj.), buck-toothed (adj.)" from Celtic (*)brokko- "a pin, badger."
- coñac "brandy"
- crema "cream" from French crème
- debate "dispute, quarrel". from Old French debat "discussion, controversy, contest" (Modern French débat, from debattre, debatre, "to fight, wrestle, struggle," from de- + battre, batre "to fight, strike," from Latin battere, battuere, see batir above.
- dolmen from French dolmen
- embajador "ambassador" and this from gaulish ambi-actos "who serves around".
- jabalina, from Middle French javeline, diminutive of javelot; akin to Irish gabhla "spear", Welsh gaflach "dart", Breton gavelod
- tenería "tannery", from French tannerie, from tan "tanbark"; akin to Breton tann "red oak", Old Cornish tannen, Old and Modern Irish tinne "mass of metal from furnace; metal bar, ingot"; (ogham letter) "holly, elder".
- pingüino "penguin" from fr. pingouin.
- tonel "barrel" from French tonel and this from Celtic *tunna "skin"
- tonelada "ton" see *tonel
- truhán "buffoon, jester" from French truand
From Italian:
From Late or Vulgar Latin:
- abedul "birch tree" from late Latin betula "birch", diminutive of Gaulish betuā "birch"; akin to Old Irish bethe, Irish/Scottish beith, Manx beih, Welsh bedw, Breton bezv. The a of abedul is by the influence of Spanish abeto "fir tree.
- álamo "white poplar"
- alondra "lark" (OSp aloa) from gaulish alauda
- alosa "shad"
- ambuesta
- amelga "plot of land marked for planting"
- añicos "shards, smithereens"
- arpende "arpent" (OSp arapende) from Latin arapennis "old measure"
- banzo "cross-bar" from common Celtic wankios}
- baranda "railing, balustrade"
- bazo "spleen" from Latin badios "red"
- beleño "henbane" from gaulish beleniom "henbane"
- belesa "leadwort"
- berrendo "bicolor(ed) (animal); pronghorn bull"
- berro "watercress" from common Celtic *beruro "watercress"
- berrueco, barrueco "granitic crag, irregular pearl, round nodule"
- betún "tar" from Latin *bitumen
- bezo "big lip"
- bodollo "pruning hook"
- boque/*buco "billy-goat, buck"
- bosta "dung" from *boud-sta (PIE *gwou- "excrement") Proto-Celtic: boud-ro "dirty"
- breca "common pandora" from Celtic *brĭcco "spotted, speckled"
- OSp bren "bran; filth"
- breña "scrubland"
- brezo "heather"
- británico "British"
- brizo "cradle, lap"
- bruja "witch"
- buco "billy goat" from a Celtic *bukko
- bustar "cow pasture"
- camba "standard, sheth (of plow)", cambija "water tower"
- cambriano "Cambrian"
- camino "way" from Celtic *camanos through lat. caminus
- cantiga "song"
- carro "cart"
- cayo
- centollo "spider crab"
- colmado
- colmena "beehive"
- combleza "mistress, home-wrecker"
- correa "belt"
- corro "circle"
- cresa "maggot"
- cueto "hillock"
- duerna "trough"
- engorar "to addle"
- eranela
- galga "large stone"
- gallardo "gaillard" from French gaillard
- gancho "hook"
- garra "claw, talon"
- garza "heron"
- gavilla "handful"
- germánico "Germanic"
- gladíola/gladiola
- greña "stubborn or tangled hair"
- gubia through the Latin gulbia from Celtic *gulbia
- güero ~ huero "vain, vacuous, without substance"
- landa "open field"
- lanza "lance"
- lanzar "to launch"
- lata "tin, tin can"
- légamo "slime, mud"
- legua "league (unit)"
- lía "dregs, lees"
- llanta
- loja, locha
- losa "flagstone" from hisp-Celtic *lausa "flagstone"
- mina "mine" through the Latin mina. However asturian mena 'vein' directly from Celtic *mena.
- páramo "moorland"
- pieza "piece" from Celtic *pĕttĭa through the Latin pĕtia.
- pingüino "penguin"
- pinzón "finch"
- pote "pot"
- quéjigo "Portuguese oak"
- raya "line"
- rodaballo "brill, seabass"
- sábalo "shad"
- sabueso "hound"
- saya "tunic", *sayo "cloak" through the Latin sagium from Celtic *sagos
- sel "mountain pasture, commons"
- serna "ploughed or sown field"
- soga "rope"
- taladro "auger, drill"
- tanino "tanine"
- tarugo "wooden peg"
- tejón "badger"
- tenería
- terco "stubborn"
- tollo "mire, muddy place"
- tona
- tranca "cudgel, club"
- trapo "rag"
- varga "straw- or thatch-roofed hut"
- varón "man"
- vasallo "vassal" from Celtic *vassallos "servant" through the Latin vassallus
- vereda "path" from Celtic *voretom through the Latin vereda "way"
- yezgo, yiezgo "dwarf elder"