cailleach
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cailleach
See also: Cailleach
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Scots, from Scottish Gaelic cailleach.
Noun
cailleach (plural cailleachs)
Irish
Etymology
From Old Irish caillech (“nun, elderly woman”), from caille (“veil”) (+ -ech), from Latin pallium. Cognate with Manx caillagh.
Pronunciation
Noun
cailleach f (genitive singular caillí, nominative plural cailleacha)
- (historical) nun
- Synonyms: cailleach dhubh, cailleach Mhuire
- old woman, hag
- witch
- 2015 , Will Collins, translated by Proinsias Mac a' Bhaird, edited by Maura McHugh, Amhrán na Mara (fiction; paperback), Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Howth, Dublin: Cartoon Saloon; Coiscéim, translation of Song of the Sea (in English), →ISBN, page 7:
- Macha, Cailleach na nUlchabhán
- (informal, usually derogatory) old dear, old girl
- (informal, offensive, derogatory) old bag, bitch, cow, dog, shrew
- stone weight, stone boat anchor
- alcove; (familiar) snuggery
- Synonym: cailleach shúgáin
Declension
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Derived terms
- beacán na caillí m (“lady in the veil (type of mushroom)”)
- cailleach an ghiodail f (“pert hussy”)
- cailleach an uafáis f (“alarmist; scaremonger”)
- cailleach bhasctha f (“protruding object in ground”)
- cailleach bheag f (“bee orchid”)
- cailleach bhreac f (“larger spotted dog-fish”)
- cailleach bhréagach f (“spotted orchid”)
- cailleach chneasta f (“white witch”)
- cailleach chrainn f (“wood-louse”)
- cailleach dharach f (“oak stump”)
- cailleach dhearg f (“corn poppy”)
- cailleach dhubh f (“nun; cormorant”)
- cailleach feasa f (“sorceress, witch”)
- cailleach fhada f (“long-headed poppy”)
- cailleach fhuar f (“early purple orchid”)
- cailleach gheamaireachta f (“pantomime dame”)
- cailleach ghiúise f (“pine stump”)
- cailleach ghoile f (“tapeworm”)
- cailleach Mhuire f (“nun”)
- cailleach na gcearc f (“hag, witch”)
- cailleach na luatha f (“cricket”)
- cailleach na luatha buí f (“cinderella”)
- cailleach na mbréag f (“lying hussy”)
- cailleach oíche f (“owl; death watch beetle”)
- cailleach phiseogach f (“sorceress”)
- cailleach rua f (“loach”)
- cailleachas m (“haggishness”)
- cailleachúil (“haggish”, adjective)
- codladh na Caillí Béarra m (“protracted sleep”)
- comhrá cailleach m (“old wives’ tales”)
- feoil na caillí f (“polyporus”)
- fia-chailleach f (“hag, witch”)
- galar scuab na caillí m (“witch's broom”)
- gas caillí Artach m (“northern rock-cress”)
- gas caillí duimhche m (“fringed rock-cress”)
- gas caillí giobach m (“hairy rock-cress”)
- hata caillí m (“witch's hat”)
- leigheas caillí m (“old woman's remedy”)
- méara na caillí f (“mermaid's glove”)
- peata caillí m (“pampered child”, literally “an old woman’s pet”)
- ruacán caillí m (“crone”)
- samhairle caillí m (“disagreeable hag”)
- scuab caillí f (“witch's broomstick”)
- seanchailleach f (“witch, hag”)
- smior chailleach f (“spinal marrow”)
- snaidhm chaillí f (“granny knot”)
- sparán na caillí mairbhe m (“egg-case of skate”)
Mutation
| radical | lenition | eclipsis |
|---|---|---|
| cailleach | chailleach | gcailleach |
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
References
- ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “caillech”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
- ^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 261, page 133
- ^ Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart (in German), Zweiter Band: Wörterbuch , Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 151
- ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 223, page 83
Further reading
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “cailleach”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
- de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “cailleach”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
- “cailleach”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025
- “cailleach”, in The National Terminology Database for Irish, Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU and Foras na Gaeilge, 2006–2025
Scots
Etymology
Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic cailleach, from Old Irish caillech, from caille (“veil”) + -ach.
Pronunciation
Noun
cailleach (plural cailleachs)
Descendants
References
- MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “cailleach”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, Stirling, →ISBN
Scottish Gaelic
Etymology
From Old Irish caillech, from caille (“veil”) + -ach. Cognate with Manx caillagh.
Pronunciation
Noun
cailleach f (genitive singular cailliche, plural cailleachan)
Derived terms
- Cailleach f (“the week in spring after “Gearran”, i.e. from 12th to 18th April”)
- cailleach bheag an earbaill f (“long-tailed tit”)
- cailleach-baic f (“in cutting peats, the outside peat in a bank”)
- cailleach-bhàn f (“snowy owl”)
- cailleach-chasach f (“slater, woodlouse; millipede”)
- cailleach-cheann-dubh f (“cole titmouse, cole; black cap”)
- cailleach-chòsag f (“slater, woodlouse”)
- cailleach-dhubh f (“nun; European shag, common shag”)
- cailleach-fhasgnaidh f (“corn fanner”)
- cailleach-fhraoich f (“a large sheaf of heather tied tightly together with ropes of the same material, used as a door to a sheep cot or similar building”)
- cailleach-oidhche f (“common owl; tawny owl; spiritless fellow; butterfly”)
- cailleach-oidhche gheal, cailleach-bhàn f (“white owl”)
- cailleach-oidhche-mhòr f (“eagle owl”)
- cailleach-spuinge f (“touchwood, soft tinder”)
- cailleach-uisge f (“water-woman, water-carlin; diseased potato containing only water”)
- cìochan nan cailleach marbha m (“foxglove”)
Descendants
See also
Mutation
| radical | lenition |
|---|---|
| cailleach | chailleach |
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
References
- MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “cailleach”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, Stirling, →ISBN