léir

See also: leir, leír, and lèir

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l̠ʲeːɾʲ/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish léir, from Proto-Celtic *lēris.

Alternative forms

• léar

Adjective

léir (genitive singular feminine léire, plural léire, comparative léire)

1. clear
2. distinct
3. clever
4. explicit
5. evident

Declension

Declension of léir

	Singular		Plural (m/f)
Positive	Masculine	Feminine	(strong noun)	(weak noun)
Nominative	léir	léir	léire
Vocative	léir		léire
Genitive		léire	léire	léir
Dative	léir	léir	léire
Comparative	níos léire
Superlative	is léire

Derived terms

• go léir
• léirigh

Adjective

léir

1. inflection of léar:
   1. vocative/genitive singular masculine
   2. (archaic) dative singular feminine

Etymology 2

Inflected form of léigh.

Alternative forms

• léighir (obsolete)

Verb

léir

1. (Munster, otherwise archaic) second-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of léigh

Old Irish

FWOTD – 9 March 2023

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *lēris (“diligent, assiduous”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l͈ʲeːrʲ/

Adjective

léir

1. assiduous, earnest, careful, zealous
   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 14^d3

     cid écen aisndís do neuch as doruid co léir, ní sechmalfaider cuimre and dano

     though it is necessary to explain carefully anything that is difficult, however brevity will not be passed by

2. (later) visible, perceptible

Declension

i-stem
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	léir	léir	léir
Vocative	léir
Accusative	léir	léir
Genitive	léir	léire	léir
Dative	léir	léir	léir
Plural	Masculine	Feminine/neuter
Nominative	léiri	léiri
Vocative	léiri
Accusative	léiri
Genitive	léir* léire
Dative	léirib
Notes	*not when substantivized

Descendants

• Irish: léir
• Scottish Gaelic: lèir

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
léir also lléir after a proclitic	léir pronounced with /l(ʲ)-/	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Scottish Gaelic

Adjective

léir

1. Superseded spelling of lèir.