Adjektiv

welsch

French-speaking (Swiss), Romance, foreign (archaic)

Er kommt aus der welschen Schweiz.

He comes from French-speaking Switzerland.

Das ist eine alte welsche Tradition.

That is an old Romance tradition.

welsch- + Noun (attributive) Romance, French-speaking die welsche Schweiz

Synonyms: romanisch (Romance), französischsprachig (French-speaking)

From Proto-Germanic *walhiskaz, meaning 'foreign' or 'Celtic/Roman'. It's a cognate of 'Welsh' and 'Wales'.

Think of 'Welsh'. Both words originated from a Germanic term for their Romanized or Celtic neighbours. In modern German, it mostly refers to French-speaking Switzerland.

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