càil

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See also: cail and cáil

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish cáil (quality, property), from Latin quālitās.

Pronunciation

Noun

càil f (genitive singular càile, plural càilean)

  1. appetite, disposition, desire
  2. appearance
  3. (chiefly Lewis, Harris, Skye) anything, (negative context) nothing
    Synonyms: dad, func, heat, sgath, sìon, stuth
    Chan fhaca mi càil as ùr.
    I didn't see anything new. or: I saw nothing new.
  4. (colloquial, chiefly Lewis, Harris, Skye) nothing
    • 1985, Calum and Rory MacDonald, “Air a' Chuan”, in Heartland, performed by Runrig, track 4:
      Càil ach muir, tonnan is cuan
      Nothing but sea, waves and ocean

Mutation

Mutation of càil
radical lenition
càil chàil

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.