aibhéis

See also: áibhéis

Irish

Alternative forms

• áibhéis, aibhléis

Etymology

Probably at least partially from Old Irish abis (“depths of the sea; sea”), from Latin abyssus, from Ancient Greek ἄβυσσος (ábussos), but the vowel of the second syllable and the change in gender (masculine in Latin, feminine in modern Irish) suggest a different etymology connected with Welsh affwys (“depth”) and Breton ervoas (“deep”).

Pronunciation

• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈaːvʲɛʃ/ (corresponding to the form áibhéis)

Noun

aibhéis f (genitive singular aibhéise)

1. abyss; the deep

Declension

Declension of aibhéis

Second declension

Bare forms (no plural form of this noun) Case Singular Nominative aibhéis Vocative a aibhéis Genitive aibhéise Dative aibhéis

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Nominative an aibhéis Genitive na haibhéise Dative leis an aibhéis don aibhéis

Derived terms

• aibhéiseach (“abysmal; abyssal”, adjective)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
aibhéis	n-aibhéis	haibhéis	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “aibhéis”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “aibéis”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language