Words for dwelling, settlement, town, tribe and related things in Celtic languages.
| Proto-Celtic | *trebā = dwelling |
|---|---|
| Gaulish | Atrebates = name of a tribe |
| Old Irish (Goídelc) | treb = house, farm; household; tribe |
| Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg) | treb = house, farm; household; tribe |
| Irish (Gaeilge) | treibh [ˈtʲɾʲɛv] = house, homestead, farmstead; household, family; tribe, race |
| Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) | treabh [tro] = farming village treubh [treːv] = tribe |
| Proto-Brythonic | *treβ [ˈtrɛːβ] = town, settlement |
| Middle Welsh (Kymraec) | tref [ˈtrɛːβ] = town, settlement trefad, trevad, treuad, treuat = dwelling(-place), habitation trefan, treuan = small town or city, village, dwelling, abode, manor-house, fort |
| Welsh (Cymraeg) | tre(f) [treː(v)] = town; town centre; dwelling(-place), habitation, residence, home; house (and surrounding land), homestead, farm, estate, cluster of houses; township; tribe trefad = dwelling(-place), habitation, residence, home, region, domain trefaf, trefu= to dwell, live, settle trefan = small town or city, village, dwelling, abode, manor-house, fort |
| Middle Cornish (Cernewec) | tre, trev = dwelling place, homestead, home, town tregva, trigva = dwelling place, habitation trevedic = one from a country village, a country man, rustic |
| Cornish (Kernewek) | tre [trɛ:/tre:] = farmstead, home, town, village trigva = abode, address, dwelling, resdidence trigys = settled, to reside, live |
| Old Breton | treff, treb = town, settlement |
| Middle Breton (Brezonec) | tre, trev = town |
| Breton (Brezhoneg) | trev = town trevour = civil |
Etymology: From the Proto-Indo-European *treb- (dwelling, settlement) [source].
Words from the same Proto-Celtic root (via Latin) possibly include trobo (beehive, skep) in Galician, and truébanu (beehive, barrel, basket) in Asturian [source].
This is also the root of the archaic English word thorp(e) (a group of houses standing together in the country; a hamlet; a village), which appears in place names such as Milnthorpe and Scunthorpe.
Related words in other languages include Dorf (hamlet, village, town) in German, torp (village) in Danish, torp (farm, cottage, croft) in Swedish, þorp (village, farm) in Icelandic, and trevë (country, region, village) in Albanian [source].
Words marked with a * are reconstructions.
Sources: Wiktionary, Am Faclair Beag, Online Manx Dictionary, Teanglann.ie, eDIL – Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language, In Dúil Bélrai English – Old Irish glossary, Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, Gerlyver Kernewek, Gerlyvyr Cernewec, Dictionaire Favereau, TermOfis, Le dictionnaire diachronique du breton, Geriafurch, English – ProtoCeltic WordList (PDF), Etymological Dictionary Of Proto Celtic
