1. One of an Indo-European people originally of central Europe and spreading to western Europe, the British Isles, and southeast to Galatia during pre-Roman times, especially a Briton or Gaul.
2. A native speaker of a modern Celtic language or a descendant of such a speaker, especially a modern Gael, Welsh person, Cornish person, or Breton.

[French Celte, sing. of Celtes, Celts, from Latin Celtae, from Greek Keltoi.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.