Galla
Americannoun
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Gallas,
plural
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Galla
plural
noun
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a member of a tall dark-skinned people inhabiting Somalia and SE Ethiopia
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the language of this people, belonging to the Cushitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages
Sensitive Note
The Oromo (a nomadic, pastoral people of Ethiopia and Kenya) were formerly called Galla by other Ethiopians, and this name is common in historical texts through the early 20th century. However, Galla was never used by the Oromo themselves, and it is now considered a derogatory name for the people.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Galla
First recorded in 1875–80; origin uncertain; perhaps from Amharic or from Arabic ghalīẓ “wild, rough.”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Ms. Galla, who has won Olympic gold three times for cross-country skiing, took second in the competition behind YouTuber Hampus Hedström.
From Washington Times ● May 29, 2023
“He probably understands,” Galla said, “that we will not be able to go back there.”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 21, 2022
Galla, a 37-year-old medical student and ambulance team supervisor in Monrovia, is one of them.
From Time ● Oct. 2, 2014
“Chris is always in the right place at the right time, and that’s not a luck thing,” Dave Galla, one of Drury’s Trumbull teammates, told me when I wrote an article about them.
From New York Times ● Aug. 22, 2011
The Galla are for the most part still in the nomadic and pastoral stage, though in Abyssinia they have some agricultural settlements.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4 "G" to "Gaskell, Elizabeth" by Various
After drawing a game they had dominated, Arsenal defender William Gallas famously sat down on the pitch in what Match of the Day commentator Jonathan Pearce described as "a state of disbelief".
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026
Gallas pauses, “Is that something your dad needs a lot?”
From Seattle Times ● May 30, 2022
He has a look at a new master plan by Torti Gallas + Partners that would spruce up the outdoor areas and connect islands of park that were previously disconnected.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2019
Commission Vice Chairman Thomas M. Gallas said the commission has received “hundreds” of public comments on the issue.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 12, 2018
"What is it, countess?" asked Count Clam Gallas; "our ladies must not sigh when we mount horse, and draw the sword for the honour of old Austria."
From For Sceptre and Crown, Vol. I (of II) A Romance of the Present Time by Meding, Johann Ferdinand Martin Oskar
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
