gall

B1 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ɡɔːl/ See IPA manual

Freq #14577

Meanings

1

noun
Rude boldness; nerve; cheek.

He had the gall to come back and ask for more food.
2

verb
To annoy or irritate someone deeply.

It galls me that we lost the case.
3

verb
To rub the skin sore through friction.

The stiff new boots galled his heels.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · rude boldness; nerve; cheek. nerve cheek

2 verb · to annoy or irritate... irk

More nutgall

Word family

Forms galledgallinggalls

Derived forms begallgall-lessgall-of-the-earthgallapplegallbladdergallbushgallergallflowergallflygallicgallicolousgallification

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

Simplified etymology

Gall is an Old English word related to yellow, bile, and the final element of melancholy. The source connects these words with the greenish colour of bile.

Etymology

From Middle English galle, from Old English ġealla, galla, from Proto-West Germanic *gallā, from Proto-Germanic *gallǭ. The figurative senses (e.g., impudence, brazenness, chutzpah) are related to the literal sense (i.e., bile) via the lasting linguocultural effects of humorism, which governed Western medicine for many centuries before the advent of scientific medicine. Related to Dutch gal, German Galle, Swedish galle, galla, Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ). Also remotely related with yellow and gold.

*ǵʰelh₃- Proto-Indo-European galle Middle English ġealla Old English *gallā Proto-West Germanic *gallǭ Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# gall

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ɡɔːl/
**Frequency rank:** 14577

## Meanings
1. Rude boldness; nerve; cheek.
2. To annoy or irritate someone deeply.
3. To rub the skin sore through friction.

## Examples
- He had the gall to come back and ask for more food.
- It galls me that we lost the case.
- The stiff new boots galled his heels.

## Synonyms
- nutgall

## Derived Forms
- begall
- gall-less
- gall-of-the-earth
- gallapple
- gallbladder
- gallbush
- galler
- gallflower
- gallfly
- gallic
- gallicolous
- gallification

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ǵʰelh₃-
- Root: galle
- Root: ġealla
- Root: *gallā
- Root: *gallǭ

## Etymology
From Middle English galle, from Old English ġealla, galla, from Proto-West Germanic *gallā, from Proto-Germanic *gallǭ. The figurative senses (e.g., impudence, brazenness, chutzpah) are related to the literal sense (i.e., bile) via the lasting linguocultural effects of humorism, which governed Western medicine for many centuries before the advent of scientific medicine. Related to Dutch gal, German Galle, Swedish galle, galla, Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ). Also remotely related with yellow and gold.

## AI Etymology
Gall comes from Middle English galle, from Old English ġealla, galla, from Proto-West Germanic *gallā, from Proto-Germanic *gallǭ. The figurative senses (e.g., impudence, brazenness, chutzpah) are related to the literal sense (i.e., bile) via the lasting linguocultural effects of humorism, which governed Western medicine for many centuries before the advent of scientific medicine. Related to Dutch gal, German Galle, Swedish galle, galla, Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ). Also remotely related with yellow and gold. In current use, the main senses are “Rude boldness; nerve; cheek” and “To annoy or irritate someone deeply”.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

markdown