Etymograph

English

gallon

Gallon comes from Old Northern French galun, from Vulgar Latin *galla ‘vessel’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kel- ‘goblet’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kel-1‘goblet’uncertain
  2. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*galla1uncertain
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*galla1‘vessel’reconstructed
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEgalum1
  5. Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400galun1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gallon1
  7. Englishtodaygallon1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English gallon

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kel-Wiktionary, English gallon‘goblet’uncertain
  2. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*gallaWiktionary, English gallonuncertain
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*gallaWiktionary, English gallon‘vessel’reconstructed
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEgalumWiktionary, English gallon
  5. Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400galunWiktionary, English gallon
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gallonWiktionary, English gallon
  7. EnglishtodaygallonWiktionary, English gallon

The story

From Middle English gallon, galoun, galun, from Old Northern French galun, galon (‘liquid measure’) (compare Old French jalon), from Late Latin galum, galus (‘measure of wine’), from Vulgar Latin *galla (‘vessel’), possibly from Gaulish *galla, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (‘goblet’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kel- ‘goblet’

hold, heel, accelerate, halt, acceleration, hilt, hield, 4 more

Today it means

noun A unit of volume, equivalent to eight pints

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gallon”. 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 *kel- / gallon

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