Scottish Gaelic

American

[skot-ish gol-ik, gay-lik] / ˈskɒt ɪʃ ˈgɒl ɪk, ˈgeɪ lɪk /

or, often, Scots Gaelic

noun

the Gaelic of the Hebrides and the Highlands of Scotland, also spoken as a second language in Nova Scotia. ScotGael, Scot. Gael.

Scottish Gaelic British

noun

the Goidelic language of the Celts of Scotland, spoken in the Highlands and Western Isles

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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:

Scottish Gaelic

The podcast was commissioned by the BBC to celebrate the Cornish language's recent upgrade to top level protection by the government – alongside Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Welsh.

From BBC ● May 1, 2026

The ceremony also will include female bishops for the first time, as well as hymns and prayers sung in Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic, as well as English.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2023

Irish, a Celtic language closely related to Scottish Gaelic, is the oldest spoken language in Western Europe, according to Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, a professor at Concordia University’s School of Irish Studies in Montreal.

From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2023

Yet Scots is formally recognized as one of Scotland’s three official languages, together with English and Scottish Gaelic.

From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2020

Irish and Scottish Gaelic differ considerably in point of vocabulary, but there are also important divergences in phonetics and inflections.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5 "Cat" to "Celt" by Various

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023