roc'h (Breton)

Where does "roc'h" come from?

The Breton noun 'roc'h', meaning rock, comes from an indeterminate Celtic source[1]. That same source is linked to English 'rock' and to Romance forms such as French 'roche', Italian 'rocca', Spanish 'roca', and Galician 'rocha'[1]. The available data does not give dates or the original Celtic form.

Open questions

• The Celtic source of this word is not identified, so the original form and the exact route by which it reached English and the Romance languages are unclear. [1]

Full etymology tree

• roc'h (Breton), 'rock'
  • inherited (Celtic)

Cognates and doublets

• rock (English)
• roche (French)
• rocha (Galician)
• rocca (Italian)
• roca (Spanish)

Sources

1. roc'h (Breton) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris