Welshland

name

name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The land of foreigners; a foreign land, originally applied to Celtic lands, but later extended to include Roman and Romance-speaking areas. dated

    "For a century after Hengist and Horsa the green island which they were conquering was a "Welshland," or abode of strangers, while the "Dutchland," or home of "the folks," was the half-sunken coast they had left behind them."

  2. 2
    The land of the Welsh; Wales. rare

    "It is now practically established that the legend emanated from the Kymri, spreading from "Welshland" through Cornwall into the Welsh-speaking colony of Brittany upon the opposite shore."

  3. 3
    Italy. historical, rare

    "And this denomination, originating from this part, was afterward transferred to the whole of Italy, which was called Welshland, and its inhabitants Welshers."

Example

More examples

"For a century after Hengist and Horsa the green island which they were conquering was a "Welshland," or abode of strangers, while the "Dutchland," or home of "the folks," was the half-sunken coast they had left behind them."

Etymology

From Welsh + land. Compare Old English wēalland (“foreign country, Normandy”). Cognate with German Wälschland (“Italy”, literally “foreign-land”), German Welschland (“French-speaking Switzerland”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.