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Added 9 October 2026

gall

/ɡɔːl/ noun

In Latin: galla Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about gall at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Impudence or brazenness; temerity; chutzpah.
A gallbladder.
Bile, especially that of an animal; the greenish, profoundly bitter-tasting fluid found in bile ducts and gall bladders, structures associated with the liver.

noun

A sore on a horse caused by an ill-fitted or ill-adjusted saddle; a saddle sore.
A sore or open wound caused by chafing, which may become infected, as with a blister.
A feeling of exasperation.

verb

To chafe, to rub or subject to friction; to create a sore on the skin.
To bother or trouble.
To harass, to harry, often with the intent to cause injury.

noun

A blister or tumor-like growth found on the surface of plants, caused by various pathogens, especially the burrowing of insect larvae into the living tissues, such as that of the common oak gall wasp (Cynips quercusfolii).
A bump-like imperfection resembling a gall.

Origin

From Middle English galle, from Old English ġealla, galla, from Proto-West Germanic *gallā, from Proto-Germanic *gallǭ. The figurative senses (e.g., impudence, brazenness, chutzpah) are related to the literal sense (i.e., bile) via the lasting linguocultural effects of humorism, which governed Western medicine for many centuries before the advent of scientific medicine. Related to Dutch gal, German Galle, Swedish galle, galla, Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ). Also remotely related with yellow and gold.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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