{"id":9330,"date":"2026-10-03T21:21:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T20:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/?p=9330"},"modified":"2026-10-03T21:39:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T20:39:58","slug":"barley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/2026\/10\/03\/barley\/","title":{"rendered":"Barley"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In this post we&rsquo;re looking into words meaning <strong>barley<\/strong> and related things in Celtic languages.<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/deano\/2768564437\/in\/photolist-5dDBKB-cjKq9N-341ju-dajc9s-uW6ZDx-fB6e8j-nWTKN3-eDVhTt-5oaay1-fP4Mnm-feRWkC-8q7dW7-ajA3J2-6JsRyN-ajCTZh-vUQeMb-fmU4y4-csBrdu-ajD3pA-wMApqA-6HdpAc-ochRtv-HJHsqi-dFw3Xs-nEyUXe-vUQfvW-nYgMkv-otzBrm-NiBEfk-2EGN7M-Mv1ox-3ZVbz-FH62v-4RR6Cz-kjmPv-wC6tp4-9ZewxH-4RVgS9-eUuwp-KqDW57-J5XfBA-uYzQKx-sFveCW-krZdST-Jdwcpm-gn4EAE-PhW2x-ohksTZ-fCXpxU-JQ6gm7\" title=\"Barley\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/3272\/2768564437_8e9b7420df_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Barley\"><\/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>*yewos<\/strong> = barley, spelt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Irish (Go&iacute;delc)<\/th>\n<td><strong>e&oacute;rna<\/strong> = barley<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>e&oacute;rna, eorna<\/strong> = barley<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Irish (Gaeilge)<\/th>\n<td><strong>eorna<\/strong> [&#712;o&#720;&#638;&#736;n&#810;&#736;&#601; \/ &#712;&#596;&#720;&#638;&#736;n&#810;&#736;&#601;] = barley (<em>Hordeum vulgare<\/em>)<br>\n<strong>eorn&oacute;g<\/strong> = (stick of) barley sugar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Scottish Gaelic (G&agrave;idhlig)<\/th>\n<td><strong>e&ograve;rna<\/strong> [j&#596;&#720;r&#810;n&#810;&#736;&#601;] = barley<br>\n<strong>Tir an E&ograve;rna<\/strong> = Tiree, Uist<br>\n<strong>e&ograve;rnaach<\/strong> [j&#596;&#720;r&#810;n&#810;&#736;&#601;x] = barley-land, pertaining to or abounding in barley<br>\n<strong>e&ograve;rnachan<\/strong> [j&#596;&#720;r&#810;n&#810;&#736;&#601;xan] = knocking\/beating stone (type of mortar, esp. for unhusking grain or malting barley)<br>\n<strong>e&ograve;rnan<\/strong> [j&#596;&#720;r&#810;n&#810;&#736;an] = small barley (<em>hordeum distichon<\/em>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Manx (Gaelg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>oarn<\/strong> = barley<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Breton (Brezonec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>yell<\/strong> = spelt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Breton (Brezhoneg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>yell<\/strong> = spelt<br>\n<strong>yell-munut<\/strong> = emmer wheat, einkorn, Tartary buckwheat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Etymology<\/strong>: from Proto-Indo-European <em>*y&eacute;wos<\/em> (cereal, grain, barley, spelt), from <em>*yew(h&#8321;-)<\/em> (to ripen, mature). Words from the same roots include <strong>j&atilde;vas<\/strong> (grain, cereal) in Lithuanian, <strong>&#1580;&#1608;<\/strong> (jaw &ndash; barley, grain) in Persian, <strong>&#2332;&#2380;<\/strong> (hau &ndash; barley) in Hindi, <strong>&#1086;&#1074;&#1080;&#1085;<\/strong> (ovin &ndash; barn) in Russian, and <strong>jyv&auml;<\/strong> (grain, kernel corn) in Finnish [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European\/y%C3%A9wos\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Proto-Celtic<\/th>\n<td><strong>*sasyos<\/strong> = rye<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Celtiberian<\/th>\n<td><strong>*sas(s)ia<\/strong> = (?)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Gaulish<\/th>\n<td><strong>*(s)asyom<\/strong> = (?)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Welsh (Kymraec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>heyd, heyt, heid(d), haid<\/strong> = barley<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Welsh (Cymraeg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>haidd<\/strong> [hai&#815;&eth;] = barley<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Cornish (Cernewec \/ Kernuak)<\/th>\n<td><strong>haiz<\/strong> = barley<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Cornish (Kernewek)<\/th>\n<td><strong>heydhen<\/strong> = barley<br>\n<strong>heydhenlan<\/strong> = barley land<br>\n<strong>heydhek<\/strong> = barley field<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Breton (Brethonoc)<\/th>\n<td><strong>heiz, heizen(n)<\/strong> = barley<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Breton (Brezonec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>heiz<\/strong> = barley<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Breton (Brezhoneg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>heiz<\/strong> = barley<br>\n<strong>heizeg<\/strong> = barley field<br>\n<strong>heizek<\/strong> = abundant in barley<br>\n<strong>heizenn<\/strong> = grain of barley<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Etymology<\/strong>: from PIE <em>*sh&#8321;-s-yo-s<\/em>, from <em>*seh&#8321;-<\/em> (to sow, to plant). The Catalan word <strong>xeixa<\/strong> (common wheat) comes from the same Proto-Celtic root, via Celtiberian [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic\/sasyos\">source<\/a>]. Words from the same PIE roots include <strong>s&#275;t<\/strong> (to sow) in Lithuanian, <strong>&#1089;&#1077;&#1103;&#1090;&#1100;<\/strong> (sejat&rsquo; &ndash; to sow, lose, squander, spread) in Russian, and  <strong>disseminate<\/strong>, <strong>earn<\/strong>, <strong>season<\/strong>, <strong>seed<\/strong>, <strong>seminar<\/strong> and <strong>sow<\/strong> in English [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European\/seh%E2%82%81-\">source<\/a>]. <\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Proto-Celtic<\/th>\n<td><strong>*&#632;itu<\/strong> = corn, grain<br>\n<strong>*&#632;ituland&#257;<\/strong> = threshing floor, stackyard, granary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Gaulish<\/th>\n<td><strong>*itu<\/strong> = corn, grain (?)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Irish (Go&iacute;delc)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ith<\/strong> = corn, grain, seed<br>\n<strong>itlann<\/strong> = a threshing floor, barn, granary, storehouse<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ith<\/strong> = corn, grain, seed<br>\n<strong>ithlann, ithla, ithlu<\/strong> = a threshing floor, barn, granary, storehouse; a garden<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Irish (Gaeilge)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ioth<\/strong> = corn, grain (<em>literary<\/em>)<br>\n<strong>iothlainn<\/strong> = haggard, rickyard<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Scottish Gaelic (G&agrave;idhlig)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ioth<\/strong> [ih] = corn, grain<br>\n<strong>iothlann<\/strong> [jul&#810;&#736;&#601;n&#810;&#736;] = yard, farmyard, enclosure<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Manx (Gaelg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>uhllin<\/strong> = farmyard, rickyard, stackyard, cornyard, haggard<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Proto-Brythonic<\/th>\n<td><strong>*&#616;d<\/strong> = grain (?)<br>\n<strong>*&#616;dlann<\/strong> = rickyard, stackyard, barnyard, granary (?)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Welsh (Kembraec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>itlann<\/strong> = rickyard, stackyard, barnyard, granary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Welsh (Kymraec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>yt, id, yd<\/strong> = corn, grain, cereal<br>\n<strong>ytlan, ydlan<\/strong> = rickyard, stackyard, barnyard, granary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Welsh (Cymraeg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>&#375;d<\/strong> [&#616;&#720;d \/ i&#720;d] = corn, grain, cereal<br>\n<strong>ydlan<\/strong> = rickyard, stackyard, barnyard, granary<br>\n<strong>yta<\/strong> = to harvest corn, to beg corn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Cornish<\/th>\n<td><strong>yd, &#375;d<\/strong> = corn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Cornish (Cernewec \/ Kernuak)<\/th>\n<td><strong>&#375;s, ys<\/strong> = corn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Cornish (Kernewek)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ys<\/strong> [&#618;s] = corn, barley, cereals, wheat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Breton (Brethonoc)<\/th>\n<td><strong>esat<\/strong> = wheat (?)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Breton (Brezonec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>et, eth, yt, yth<\/strong> = wheat, cereal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Breton (Brezhoneg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ed<\/strong> [&#712;e&#720;t] = wheat, corn, grain, cereal<br>\n<strong>edeg<\/strong> = field of wheat or cereals<br>\n<strong>edek<\/strong> = planted with wheat<br>\n<strong>edenn<\/strong> = wheat grain<br>\n<strong>eder<\/strong> = cereal grower, grain farmer<br>\n<strong>ederezh<\/strong> = cereal farming<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Etymology<\/strong>: from Proto-Indo-European <em>*p&eacute;y-tu-s \/ *pi-t&eacute;w-s<\/em>, from <em><\/em> (to swell [with milk], to be swollen, fat) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic\/%C9%B8itu\">source<\/a>]. Words from the same roots may include <strong>pi&#7869;t&#363;s<\/strong> (lunch, dinner, noon) in Lithuanian, <strong>p&iacute;ce<\/strong> (fodder) in Czech [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European\/peyh%E2%82%82-\">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 into words meaning barley and related things in Celtic languages. Words marked with a * are reconstructions. Proto-Celtic *yewos = barley, spelt Old Irish (Go\u00eddelc) e\u00f3rna = barley Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg) e\u00f3rna, eorna = barley Irish (Gaeilge) eorna [\u02c8o\u02d0\u027e\u02e0n\u032a\u02e0\u0259 \/ \u02c8\u0254\u02d0\u027e\u02e0n\u032a\u02e0\u0259] = barley (Hordeum vulgare) eorn\u00f3g = (stick of) barley [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,16,101,17,26,19,20,129,25,111,21,3,110,22,5,6,37,7,27,8,10,136,11,12,13,106,23,72,43,18,14],"tags":[222,52,80,481,51,145,48,482,47,53,49,55,50],"class_list":["post-9330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjectives","category-breton","category-catalan-catala","category-celtiberian","category-kernewek-cornish","category-english","category-etymology","category-finnish-suomi","category-gaulish","category-hindi-","category-gaeilge-irish","category-language","category-lithuanian-lietuviu-kalba","category-gaelg-manx","category-middle-breton","category-middle-cornish","category-middle-irish","category-middle-welsh-kymraec","category-nouns","category-old-breton","category-old-irish-goidelc","category-persian-farsi-","category-proto-brythonic","category-proto-celtic","category-proto-indo-european","category-russian-","category-gaidhlig-scottish-gaelic","category-trees","category-verbs","category-cymraeg-welsh","category-words","tag-barley","tag-breton","tag-celtic","tag-corn","tag-cornish","tag-etymology","tag-gaelic","tag-grain","tag-irish","tag-language","tag-manx","tag-scottish-gaelic","tag-welsh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9330","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=9330"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9333,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9330\/revisions\/9333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}