- draoi
- draoi, draoidhdruidh, a magicician, druid, Irish draoi, gen. pl. druadh, Early Irish drai, drui, g. druad, Gaulish druides (English druid). Its etymology is obscure. Stokes suggests relationship with English true, Gaelic dearbh, q.v., or with Greek $$Gqréomai, cry, (as in drannd, dùrd), or Greek $$Ga$$'/qréw, look sharp, Prussian dereis, see. Thurneysen analyses the word as dru, high, strong, See truaill. Brugmann and Windisch have also suggested the root dru, oak, as Pliny did too, because of the Druids' reverence for the oak tree. Anglo-Saxon dry/, magus, is borrowed from the Celtic. draoineach, druineach, artisan, "eident" person (Carm.); draoneach, "any person that practices an art" (Grant), agriculturist; druinneach, artist (Lh.). Irish druine, art needlework; $$Gqróna, flowers in embroidery drugs.
Etymological dictionary of the Gaelic language. Alexander Gairm Publications. 1982.