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Definition 2024


cailleach

cailleach

Irish

cailleach

Noun

cailleach f (genitive singular caillí, nominative plural cailleacha)

  1. (historical) nun
  2. old woman, hag; midwife
    1. witch
  3. precocious girl
  4. (of man):
    1. (contemptuously) spineless fellow, coward
    2. (facetiously, in direct address) lad!
  5. spent, shrivelled, thing
  6. stump; obstructing object
  7. (of straw, wrack) truss, bundle
  8. stone weight (on rope, net)
  9. recess for bed; alcove; (familiar) snuggery

Declension

Synonyms

  • (nun): cailleach dhubh, cailleach Mhuire
  • (spineless fellow, coward): cailleach fir
  • (recess for bed; alcove; snuggery): cailleach shúgáin

Derived terms

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
cailleach chailleach gcailleach
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References


Scots

Etymology

Borrowing from Scottish Gaelic cailleach, from Old Irish caillech, from caille (veil) + -ach.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈkeljʌx], [ˈkalʌx], [ˈkaljʌx]

Noun

cailleach (plural cailleachs)

  1. old woman, crone

Synonyms

References


Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish caillech, from caille (veil) + -ach.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkʰaʎəx/

Noun

cailleach f (genitive singular cailliche, plural cailleachan)

  1. old woman
  2. woman, wife
  3. hag, crone
  4. cowl (on a chimney)

Derived terms

References