selkie

English

Alternative forms

• silkie

Etymology

From Scots selkie fowk (“seal folk”).

Noun

selkie (plural selkies)

1. (Celtic mythology) A seal which can magically transform into a human by shedding its skin.

Translations

mythological creature

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 海豹人 (hǎibàorén), 海豹精 (hǎibàojīng)

• Danish: sælkvinde c
• Faroese: kópakona f
• French: selkie (fr) m or f, phoque-garou (fr) m
• German: Selkie
• Irish: maighdean mhara f, banrón m, leanbh-rón m
• Japanese: セルキー (serukī)
• Korean: 셀키 (selki)
• Manx: moidyn varrey f
• Russian: шелки (šelki), селки (selki)
• Scots: (collectively) selkie fowk, (male) silkie man, (female) selkie-wife
• Scottish Gaelic: maighdeann-mhara f, (rare) maighdeann-ròin f

Anagrams

• Lieske

Scots

Alternative forms

• saelkie, selky, seilkie, sejlki, shelky, silkey, silkie, sulky
• sylkie (Shetland)

Etymology

selch +‎ -ie

Noun

selkie (plural selkies)

1. Diminutive of selch (“common seal, grey seal”)

Derived terms

• silkie man (“male selkie”, literally “male seal”)
• selkie-wife (“female selkie, mermaid”, literally “female seal”)
• selkie fowk (“selkie”, literally “seal people”)

Further reading

• “selch” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.
• "selkie" in The Orkney Dictionary, 1996, by Margaret Flaws and Gregor Lamb.