Association of British Scrabble Players

Language > Rom - Sin > Scots Gaelic


Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.


ben mountain
birlinn a barge in the Western Isles.
bodach old man; churl; goblin or spectre.
bothan a booth, a hut.
brochan gruel, porridge.
caillach cailleach cailliach an old woman.
cairngorm a yellow-brown quartz. [Gaelic carn, stone + gorm, blue].
caman a shinty stick
camanachd the game of shinty
capercaillie capercailzie a large Scottish bird of the grouse family. [Gaelic capull coille, horse of the woods].
caschrom a spade with a bent handle for tilling soil.
ceili ceilidh an informal gathering with music, dancing etc.
clach a stone; (verb) to kill by stoning > CLACHED, CLACHING. [Gaelic clach, stone].
clachan a small village. [Gaelic clach, stone].
clarsach clairschach a Scottish folk harp.
claymore a large sword. [Gaelic claidheamh, sword + mor, great].
coranach coronach a lamentation for the dead; a dirge.
corkir korkir a lichen used for dyeing red or purple.
cranachan a traditional Scottish dessert, usually made from a mixture of whipped cream, whisky, honey, and fresh raspberries topped with toasted oatmeal.
crannog crannoge one of the stockaded islands in Scotland and Ireland which in ancient times were numerous in the lakes of both countries. [Gaelic crann, a tree].
cranreuch a hoar-frost.
creach creagh a foray, booty.
cromack crummock crummack a crook, a stick with a curved head.
crotal crottle a lichen used for dyeing.
cudden cuddin a coalfish; a dolt, fool. [Gaelic cudainn].
deiseal deasoil deasil deisheal deasiul with a sunwise motion.
donsie luckless; feeble. [Gaelic donas, bad luck, harm or ill will].
dorlach a bundle formerly carried on the person by Highland troops; a kitbag; a portmanteau.
drammach drammock meal and water mixed raw.
droich a dwarf.
droichy dwarfish > DROICHIER, DROICHIEST.
duan a division of a poem corresponding to a canto; a poem or song.
dulse an edible red seaweed. [Gaelic duilleasg: duille, leaf, + uisge, water].
duniewassal duniwassal dunniewassal a Highland gentleman of inferior rank.
eirack a young hen. [Gaelic eireag].
filibeg fillibeg philabeg phillabeg philibeg phillibeg the kilt. [Gaelic feileadhbeag, from feileadh, pleat or fold, and beag, little].
finnac finnack finnock phinnock a young sea trout.
graddan parched grain; (verb) to parch in the husk.
gralloch to gut, esp. a deer. [Gaelic grealach].
guga a young gannet, eaten as a delicacy in the Hebrides.
hoolachan hoolican a kind of Highland reel.
kyle a narrow strait. [Gaelic caol, narrow].
kyloe a breed of Highland cattle. [Gaelic gaidhealach Gaelic, Highland.]
loch a lake.
lochan a small lake, a pond.
lymphad a Highland galley. [Gaelic longfhada].
machair a low-lying sandy beach, esp. in the Hebrides.
maormor mormaor a high-ranking or chief steward.
murlain murlan murlin a narrow-mouthed basket.
partan an edible British crab. [Perh. ult. f. OIr. partaing, red].
pibroch variations on a dirge or martial theme for bagpipes.
ptarmigan a game-bird of the grouse family, which lives on barren moors and heaths in Arctic and subarctic areas. [Gael. tarmachan, f. tarm-, torm-, grumble, croak; the p- seems to have come by confusion with the Greek root ptarmos, sneeze].
quaich quaigh a drinking-cup. Pl. QUAICHS or QUAICHES; QUAIGHS.
rolag a roll of combed sheep's wool ready for spinning. [Gaelic ròlag, dim. of rola, a roll].
seannachie seannachy sennachie shanachie a bard among the Highlanders of Scotland, who preserved and repeated the traditions of the tribes; also, a genealogist.
skean skene skeen a double-edged dagger used in Ireland and Scotland. [Gaelic sgean, knife].
skeechan a kind of beer made by mixing malt liquor with treacle. [Gaelic caochan, fermented liquor].
skelp to hustle; to slap, strike. [Gaelic sgealp, a slap]
sowans sowens a kind of oat porridge, a traditional dish for Hallowe'en.
spleuchan a pouch, as for tobacco.
sporran an ornamental pouch worn in front of kilt.
spreagh a cattle raid; a foray. [Gaelic spreidh, cattle].
taghairm inspiration sought by lying in a bullock's hide behind a waterfall.
taish taisch an apparition of someone about to die. [Gaelic taibhis, apparition].
tinchel a circle of men who close in round a herd of deer.
tocher dowry; (verb) to dower.
tonnag a shawl with a shaped neck and side fastening.
tulchan a calf's skin set beside a cow to make her give milk freely. [Gaelic tulachan].
usque usquabae usquebae usquebaugh whiskey.
weem a subterranean dwelling. [Gaelic uaim, cave].