Cymry en · NOUN
Etymology
Borrowed from Welsh Cymry, q.v. Cognate with English Cambrian and Cymric.
Meanings
-
(plural, plural-only, uncommon) Synonym of Welsh: the Welsh people collectively.
The natural conclusion is that the Silurians or Iberians, now represented by the little, dark Welshmen, are the oldest existing race in Wales, and, though now speaking Cymraeg, were long before the Cymry there.
1881, James Bonwick, Who Are the Welsh? (Our Nationalities; III), London: David Bogue, […], page 46:“What brings you into our lands?” The strange looking barbarian asked again. / He was speaking Cymraeg, which means the language of the aborigines, or “the language of the first race.” It was the same language of the Cymry of which Cedric and his tribe was a people of.
2001, Jodie K. Scales, Of Kindred Celtic Origins, volumes 1 (Myths, Legends, Genealogy and History of an Ordinary American Family), Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 416:For though, as the tale goes, the Tylwyth Têg and their garden undoubtedly occupy the spot to this day, though the birds still keep at a respectful distance from the lake, and some broken strains of music are still heard at times, yet the door which led to the island has never re-opened, and from the date of this sacrilegious act, the Cymry have been unfortunate.
1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 198: