Druid - Etymology

Etymology

The modern English word druid derives from the Latin druides (pronounced ), which was considered by ancient Roman writers to come from the native Celtic Gaulish word for these figures. Other Roman texts also employ the form druidae, while the same term was used by Greek ethnographers as δρυΐδης (druidēs). Although no extant Romano-Celtic inscription is known to contain the form, the word is cognate with the later insular Celtic words, Old Irish druí ("druid, sorcerer") and early Welsh dryw ("seer"). Based on all available forms, the hypothetical proto-Celtic word may then be reconstructed as *dru-wid-s (pl. *druwides) meaning "oak-knower". The two elements go back to the Proto-Indo-European roots *deru- and *weid- "to see". The sense of "oak-knower" (or "oak-seer") is confirmed by Pliny the Elder, who in his Natural History etymologised the term as containing the Greek noun δρύς (drus), "oak-tree" and the Greek suffix -ιδης (-idēs). The modern Irish word for Oak is Dair, which occurs in anglicised placenames like Derry - Doire, and Kildare - Cill Dara (literally the "church of oak"). There are many stories and lore about saints, heroes, and oak trees, and also many local stories and superstitions (called pishogues) about trees in general, which still survive in rural Ireland. Both Irish druí and Welsh dryw could also refer to the wren, possibly connected with an association of that bird with augury bird in Irish and Welsh tradition (see also Wren Day).