Etymograph

English

gall

Gall comes from Old English ġealla ‘gall bladder’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-1‘green, yellow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gallǭ2‘gall, bile’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gallā2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġealla2‘gall bladder’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500galle2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611gall2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *gallǭ
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English gall
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “He shall flee from the iron weapon and the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *gallǭ‘green, yellow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gallǭWiktionary, English gall‘gall, bile’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gallāWiktionary, English gallreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġeallaWiktionary, English gall‘gall bladder’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500galleWiktionary, English gall
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611gallWiktionary, English gall. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “He shall flee from the iron weapon and the…”

The story

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. Also remotely related with yellow and gold.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’

gold, fell, yellow, chlorine, cholera, felon, yolk, gullible, glib, choline, gild, zloty, chlorella, 27 more

Another origin of gall

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelH-r/n-uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gallô‘infirmity, swelling, lesion’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gallōreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150gealla‘a fretted spot on the skin’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500galle
  6. Englishtodaygall

Another origin of gall

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgalla‘oak-apple’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400galle
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500galle
  4. Englishtodaygall

Today it means

noun Impudence or brazenness; temerity; chutzpah.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gall”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *gallǭ. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- / gall

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