Welshland
English edit
Etymology edit
From Welsh + land. Compare Old English wēalland (“foreign country, Normandy”). Cognate with German Wälschland (“Italy”, literally “foreign-land”), German Welschland (“French-speaking Switzerland”).
Proper noun edit
Welshland
- (dated) The land of foreigners; a foreign land, originally applied to Celtic lands, but later extended to include Roman and Romance-speaking areas.
- 1902, John Fiske, The Historical Writings of John Fiske:
- For a century after Hengist and Horsa the green island which they were conquering was a "Welshland," or abode of strangers, while the "Dutchland," or home of "the folks," was the half-sunken coast they had left behind them.
- (rare) The land of the Welsh; Wales.
- 1905, The Gentleman's magazine:
- It is now practically established that the legend emanated from the Kymri, spreading from "Welshland" through Cornwall into the Welsh-speaking colony of Brittany upon the opposite shore.
- 1996, Wace, Eugene Mason, Layamon, Arthurian chronicles:
- But I have opposed them, and think to withsay, for I have been steward of all Britain's land, and earl I am potent, unlike to my companions, and I have Welshland half-part in my hand; more I have alone than the others all clean.
- 2005, Curt Bissonette, Noble Stone:
- Welshland: Now called Wales, Welshland lay just west of Mercia and was made up of Celts that held many different lands, which included place names like Gwent and Gwynedd.
- (rare, historical, usually following German terminology) Italy.
- 1818, Royal Irish Academy, The Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy:
- And this denomination, originating from this part, was afterward transferred to the whole of Italy, which was called Welshland, and its inhabitants Welshers.
- 1873, Lewis Gidley, Stonehenge:
- He says that in his time Lombardy, or Gallia Cisalpina, was called by the Germans Welshland, and hence, by the vulgar, Italy was called Welshland, and the Italians Welshers.