{"id":9320,"date":"2026-09-18T22:28:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/?p=9320"},"modified":"2026-09-18T22:28:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:28:52","slug":"service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/2026\/09\/18\/service\/","title":{"rendered":"Service"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In this post we&rsquo;re looking at words for <strong>service<\/strong>, <strong>to serve<\/strong> and related words in Celtic languages.<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/dskley\/15558336487\/in\/photolist-pGQxoP-fE8zdr-fE8ofp-fEqb8J-A4hkoY-fE8s1T-fEq2pS-fE8A2c-p7ejjq-fE8DHT-fE8Byt-sfjbFw-28UhHPh-fE8EyB-fEqifm-fEqobq-fEqdzs-qGRRG2-fEqooJ-p4tkM6-fE8NBP-zoRPXU-fEqq63-fEqkn7-qq3PPr-dg79At-dg77YQ-dnLo5r-rCwAUE-r4Pgy2-A4ixp7-rn8bTa-2rAA5zr-mbhEgn-2fmqmio-iqNmL-9UoiDS-tX84xp-dg7ikJ-sfjaJS-23vbkg3-r4WQ8e-2nXQd2g-JjM4RQ-dnLsVf-22tidRY-2sgNZgG-e4rraN-e3Fi2M-23vbjGC\" title=\"Service\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5603\/15558336487_fd95d7d926_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" alt=\"Service\"><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Words marked with a * are reconstructions.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Proto-Celtic<\/th>\n<td><strong>*u&#632;ogn&#299;mus, *u&#632;ogn&#299;m&#257;<\/strong> = service<br>\n<strong>*u&#632;ogn&#299;tus<\/strong> = service<br>\n<strong>*u&#632;ogniyeti<\/strong> = to serve<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Irish (Go&iacute;delc)<\/th>\n<td><strong>fognam<\/strong> [&#712;&#632;o&#611;.n&#601;&beta;&#771;] = serving, work<br>\n<strong>fognad<\/strong> = service<br>\n<strong>fo&middot;gn&iacute;<\/strong> [&#632;o&#712;&#609;&#690;n&#690;i&#720;] = to serve<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>fognam, fognom, foghnamh<\/strong> = serving, rendering service, use, utility, profit<br>\n<strong>fognad, f&oacute;ghanta<\/strong> = serving, doing service<br>\n<strong>fognaid<\/strong> = to serve<br>\n<strong>fognamaid, fognamthid<\/strong> = one who serves, a servitor, vassal<br>\n<strong>fo-gn&iacute;, fognaid, fognad, fognid<\/strong> = to serve, to be of use, to be subject to<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Irish (Gaeilge)<\/th>\n<td><strong>f&oacute;in<\/strong> = to serve, to be of use, to avail, to benefit<br>\n<strong>f&oacute;inteach<\/strong> = helpful, practical, person, servant, attendant<br>\n<strong>f&oacute;namh<\/strong> [&#712;f&#736;o&#720;n&#810;&#736;&#601;v&#736; \/ &#712;f&#736;o&#720;n&#736;u] = service, usefulness, benefit, validity<br>\n<strong>f&oacute;namha&iacute;<\/strong> = one who serves, servitor, servant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Scottish Gaelic (G&agrave;idhlig)<\/th>\n<td><strong>f&ograve;ghnadh<\/strong> [fo&#720;n&#810;&#601;&#611;] = (act of) sufficiing, being sufficient, availing, sufficiency<br>\n<strong>foghain<\/strong> [fo.&#618;n&#810;&#690;] = suffice, be sufficient, avail, do<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Manx (Gaelg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>foaynoo<\/strong> = utility, worth, reputation, function<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Proto-Brythonic<\/th>\n<td><strong>*gw&ouml;&#611;ni&beta;&#771;, *gw&ouml;&#611;nid<\/strong> = service (?)<br>\n<strong>*gw&ouml;&#611;n&#616;&eth;&#616;d<\/strong> = to serve<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Welsh (Kymraec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>gueini, gueyny, gweini<\/strong> = to serve, to be in service, to wait (on)<br>\n<strong>gweinyt, gweinyd<\/strong> = servant, attendant<br>\n<strong>gueynydauc, gweinidog, gwenidawc<\/strong> = servant, attendant, minister, ambassador<br>\n<strong>gueini, gueyny, gweini, gweinyd<\/strong> = to serve, wait, minister, attend, officiate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Welsh (Cymraeg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>gweini<\/strong> [&#712;&#609;wei&#815;n&#616; \/ &#712;&#609;wei&#815;n&#618;] = to serve, to be in service, to wait (on)<br>\n<strong>gweinidog<\/strong> [&#609;wei&#815;&#712;n&#618;d&#596;&#609;] = servant, attendant, minister, ambassador<br>\n<strong>gweinydd<\/strong> [&#712;&#609;wei&#815;n&#616;&#798;&eth; \/ &#712;&#609;wei&#815;n&#618;&eth;] = servant, attendant, waiter, provider, administrator, minster<br>\n<strong>gweinyddes<\/strong> = nurse, waitress, maid-servant, maid<br>\n<strong>gweinyddiaeth<\/strong> = administration<br>\n<strong>gweinyddol<\/strong> = serving, ministering, officiating, subserviant, servile, administrative, executive<br>\n<strong>gweinyddu<\/strong> = to serve, wait, minister, attend, officiate<br>\n<strong>gweinyddwr, gweinyddydd<\/strong> = servant, waiter, administrator, executor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Cornish (Cernewec \/ Kernuak)<\/th>\n<td><strong>gonedhic, gonydhic, gonythick<\/strong> = husbandman, farmer<br>\n<strong>gonedhy<\/strong> = to labour, work, till, cultivate, plant, set<br>\n<strong>gones, gonys<\/strong> = to labour, till, cultivate<br>\n<strong>goneseg<\/strong> = workman, labourer<br>\n<strong>gonidoc<\/strong> = servant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Cornish (Kernewek)<\/th>\n<td><strong>gonis<\/strong> = service, work; to cultivate, to labour, to till; cultivation, culture, farming<br>\n<strong>gonisek<\/strong> = servant; cultivator, rotavator, soil cultivator<br>\n<strong>gonisoges<\/strong> = servant (female)<br>\n<strong>gonisogeth<\/strong> = agriculture, farming, husbandry; culture, cultivation, farming<br>\n<strong>gonisogethek<\/strong> = agricultural<br>\n<strong>gonisyow<\/strong> = workings<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Breton (Brezonec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>gonit<\/strong> = to conquer, to cultivate, to win, to obtain, to defeat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Breton (Brezhoneg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>gounid<\/strong> [&#712;&#609;&#361;&#720;.nit] = advantage, windfall, profit, victory<br>\n<strong>gounit<\/strong> [&#712;&#609;&#361;&#720;.nit] = to conquer, to cultivate, to win, to obtain, to defeat<br>\n<strong>gounideg<\/strong> = farmer<br>\n<strong>gounidek<\/strong> = lucrative, profitable, advantageous<br>\n<strong>gounider<\/strong> = winner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Etymology<\/strong>: from Proto-Celtic <em>*u&#632;o-<\/em> (sub-, under) and <em>*gn&#299;mus<\/em> (doing, act, action, work) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic\/u%C9%B8ogn%C4%ABmus\">source<\/a>]. Words from the same roots include <strong>gn&iacute;omh<\/strong> (there) in Irish, <strong>gn&igrave;omh<\/strong> (there) in Scottish Gaelic, <strong>gnif<\/strong> (there, that) in Welsh [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic\/gn%C4%ABmus\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.japanesepod101.com\/member\/go.php?r=759259&amp;i=b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/images\/banners\/banner_japanesepod.jpg\" alt=\"The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com\" width=\"630\" height=\"83\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sources: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/\">Wiktionary<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.faclair.com\/\">Am Faclair Beag<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mannin.info\/Mannin\/fockleyr\/m2e.php\">Online Manx Dictionary<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teanglann.ie\/en\/fgb\/ceann\">Teanglann.ie<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/dil.ie\/\">eDIL &ndash; Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk\/sengoidelc\/duil-belrai\/english.html\">In D&uacute;il B&eacute;lrai English &ndash; Old Irish glossary<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/geiriadur.ac.uk\/gpc\/gpc.html\">Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cornishdictionary.org.uk\/browse?field_word_value=penn\">Gerlyver Kernehe, itk<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.arkaevraz.net\/dicobzh\/index.php\">Dictionaire Favereau<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brezhoneg.bzh\/87-termofis.htm\">TermOfis<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wales.ac.uk\/Resources\/Documents\/Research\/CelticLanguages\/EnglishProtoCelticWordList.pdf\">English &ndash; ProtoCeltic WordList<\/a> (PDF), <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/embed\/EtymologicalDictionaryOfProtoCeltic\">Etymological Dictionary Of Proto Celtic<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/our.kualo.com\/uk\/go\/00572\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.kualo.com\/rewards\/uk-unlimited2-468x60.gif\" width=\"468\" height=\"60\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Unlimited he, itb Hosting - Kualo\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this post we&#8217;re looking at words for service, to serve and related words in Celtic languages. Words marked with a * are reconstructions. Proto-Celtic *u\u0278ogn\u012bmus, *u\u0278ogn\u012bm\u0101 = service *u\u0278ogn\u012btus = service *u\u0278ogniyeti = to serve Old Irish (Go\u00eddelc) fognam [\u02c8\u0278o\u0263.n\u0259\u03b2\u0303] = serving, work fognad = service fo\u00b7gn\u00ed [\u0278o\u02c8\u0261\u02b2n\u02b2i\u02d0] = to serve Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,21,3,22,6,37,7,10,11,12,23,18,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kernewek-cornish","category-gaeilge-irish","category-language","category-gaelg-manx","category-middle-cornish","category-middle-irish","category-middle-welsh-kymraec","category-old-irish-goidelc","category-proto-brythonic","category-proto-celtic","category-gaidhlig-scottish-gaelic","category-cymraeg-welsh","category-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9320"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9322,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9320\/revisions\/9322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}