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Irish

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Irish edition of Wiktionary

Etymology

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From Middle English Irish (12th c.), from Old English *Īrisċ, from Old English Īras (“Irishmen”), from Old Norse Írar, from Old Irish Ériu (modern Irish Éire (“Ireland”)), further origin heavily debated but probably from Proto-Celtic *Φīweriyū (“fat land, fertile”), from Proto-Indo-European *péyh₂wr̥ (“fat, swelling”), from *peyh₂- (“to swell; to be fat”), akin to Ancient Greek πίειρα (píeira, “fertile land”), Sanskrit पीवरी (pīvarī, “fat”).

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Irish

  2. (uncountable) The Gaelic language indigenous to Ireland, also known as Irish Gaelic.
    Irish is the first official and national language of Ireland.
  3. (as plural) The Irish people.
    Many Irish are actually darkhaired as a result of the many invaders and migrants over the centuries.
  4. A surname originating as an ethnonym.
  5. A female given name of chiefly Philippine usage.

Usage notes

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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Irish (countable and uncountable, plural Irish or Irishes)

  1. (uncountable, obsolete) A board game of the tables family.
  2. (uncountable, US) Temper; anger, passion.
    • 1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, Nebraska, published 1987, page 65:
      But her Irish was up too high to do any thing with her, and so I quit trying.
    • 1947, Hy Heath, John Lange, Clancy Lowered the Boom:
      Whenever he got his Irish up, Clancy lowered the boom.
    • 1997, Andrew M. Greeley, Irish Lace, page 296:
      The Priest is as fierce a fighter as I am when he gets his Irish up.
  3. (countable, uncountable) Whiskey, or whisky, elaborated in Ireland.
    • 1889, Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat […] ‎[1]:
      Harris said he'd had enough oratory for one night, and proposed that we should go out and have a smile, saying that he had found a place, round by the square, where you could really get a drop of Irish worth drinking.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Adjective

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Irish (comparative more Irish, superlative most Irish)

  1. Pertaining to or originating from Ireland or the Irish people.
    Sheep are typical in the Irish landscape.
    • 1992 April 26, “Hot Off the Press”, in Jeeves and Wooster, Series 3, Episode 5:
      A. Fink-Nottle: But it's absolute balderdash, Bertie. I mean, listen to this: "Sure and begorrah, I don't know what's after being the matter with you, Michael." I mean, what on earth is this "what's after being" stuff mean?
      B.W. Wooster: My dear old Gussie, that is how people think Irish people talk.
    • 2013 October 25, Filip Borev, “I was a pale Roma baby – it's always been a family joke that I was stolen”, in The Guardian‎[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 12 August 2022:
      My genes would best be described as a melting pot – my mother is part Bulgarian Roma, part Romanichal (English Romany), and my dad is part Romanichal, part Irish Traveller – thus, it was hardly surprising when I was born a blue-eyed milk bottle.
  2. Pertaining to the Irish language.

Derived terms

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Terms derived from Irish (adjective)

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Cebuano

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Etymology 1

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From English Irish, from Middle English Irisce, from Old English Īras (“Irishmen”), from Old Norse Írar, from Old Irish Ériu (modern Éire (“Ireland”)), from Proto-Celtic *Īwerjū (“fat land, fertile”), from Proto-Indo-European *pi-wer- (“fertile”), from *peyH- (literally “fat”).

Proper noun

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Irish

  1. the Goidelic language indigenous to Ireland, also known as Irish Gaelic

Noun

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Irish

  1. an Irishman or Irishwoman

Adjective

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Irish

  1. pertaining to or originating from Ireland or the Irish people
  2. pertaining to the Irish language

Etymology 2

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From English Irish. Also a corruption of Iris.

Proper noun

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Irish

  1. a female given name from English

Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old English Īras (“Irishmen”), from Old Norse Írar, from Old Irish Ériu (modern Irish Éire (“Ireland”)).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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Irish (uncountable)

  1. Irish

Descendants

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  • English: Irish
  • Yola: Eeerish, Eerish

References

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