béal

See also: beal and Beal

French

Noun

béal m (plural béals)

1. (southern France) small irrigation canal

Further reading

• “béal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• Abel, able, Bâle, bêla

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish bél (compare Scottish Gaelic beul, Manx beeal), from Proto-Celtic *wewlos (compare Welsh gwefl (“animal lip”), Cornish gwevel).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /bʲiɑ̯l̪ˠ/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /bʲeːl/
• (Connemara, Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /bʲeːlˠ/, /bʲeːl̪ˠ/

Noun

béal m (genitive singular béil, nominative plural béil)

1. mouth (of the face, etc.)
2. opening
3. edge (of knife)
4. muzzle (of weapon)

Declension

Declension of béal

First declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative béal béil Vocative a bhéil a bhéala Genitive béil béal Dative béal béil

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an béal na béil Genitive an bhéil na mbéal Dative leis an mbéal don bhéal leis na béil

• Alternate plural used in certain phrases: béala

Derived terms

• áireamh béil (“mental arithmetic”)
• amhrán an bhéil dúnta (“sweet silence”)
• béal abhann (“mouth, outfall, of river”)
• béal an chléibh (“pit of the stomach”)
• béal an ghoile (“pit of the stomach”)
• Béal Árann (“Aran Sound”)
• béal báire (“goalmouth”)
• béal balbh
• béal bán (“soft talk”)
• béal beag (“ribbing on stocking”)
• béal beo (“talk; talkativeness; the spoken language”)
• béal bocht (“persistent complaint of poverty”)
• béal cairbreach (“rugged mouth”)
• béal dorais (“doorway”)
• béal dúnta (“closed mouth; close-lipped person”)
• béal faoi
• Béal Feirste (“Belfast”)
• béal fúithi (“upside down; prone”)
• béal gan chaomhnú (“blabber”)
• béal gan foscadh
• béal gan scáth
• béal gan smid (“silent, unsociable, person”)
• béal gearrtha (“cutting-face in cornfield, stack etc.”)
• béal ina chónaí (“discreet person”)
• béal láin (“low-water mark”)
• béal le hÉirinn (“open to the wide world”)
• béal marbh (“dumbness, stupidity”)
• béal na bó (“cowslip”)
• béal na bréige (“liar”)
• béal na céille (“sensible person, one who talks sense”)
• béal na fírinne (“truthful person”)
• béal rásúir (“razor-edge”)
• béal salach (“infantile thrush; sore mouth, orf”)
• béal scair (“gap between two nets connected at top”)
• béal tuile (“hydrant”)
• béal-anróch (“making a poor mouth, plaintive”)
• béal-láidir (“rough-spoken; hardmouthed”)
• béal-leata (“gaping”)
• béal-leathadh (“splay”)
• béal-leathan (“wide-mouthed; yawning”)
• béal-ligtheoir (“rope used in opening bottom of pannier”)
• béal-líofa (“fluent of speech”)
• béal-lódáilte (“muzzle-loading”)
• béalach (“loquacious, loose-tongued”)
• béalaireacht (“orality”)
• béalaithris (“oral account, tradition”)
• béalalt (“bridle-joint”)
• béalán (“mouthful”)
• béalbhinn (“mellifluous; flattering”)
• béalbhraiteach (“tender-mouthed”)
• béalchlabach (“garrulous”)
• béalchliste (“ready-witted”)
• béalchnáimhseáil (“plaintive talk, querulousness”)
• béalchníopaireacht (“mean, miserly, talk”)
• béalchrábhadh (“lip-service to religion; hypocrisy”)
• béalchráifeach (“sanctimonious”)
• béalchráifeacht (“sanctimoniousness”)
• béalchuas (“buccal cavity”)
• béalchúthail (“shy to speak”)
• béaldath (“lipstick”)
• béaldearg (“red-lipped”)
• béaldruidte (“secretive”)
• béaléachtaint (“(spoken) hint”)
• béalfharaing (“oropharynx”)
• béalfhileata (“silver-tongued; smart-spoken”)
• béalfhliuch (“drizzling; fond of a drink”)
• béalfhothainiúil (“secretive”)
• béalgharbh (“roughish”)
• béalghrá (“lip-service”)
• béaliata (“tight-lipped, secretive”)
• béalmháchail (“defect of speech”)
• béalmhír (“bit”)
• béalmhúinte (“mannerly, polite”)
• béalóg (“small opening, gap”)
• béaloideas (“oral tradition; folklore”)
• béaloscailte (“wide open, agape; open; open-mouthed”)
• béalráiteach (“talkative; prating”)
• béalscaoilte (“indiscreet, unable to keep a secret”)
• béalscáthlán (“open shelter”)
• béalsceiteach (“blabbing, indiscreet”)
• béalseicin (“buccal membrane”)
• béalsreang (“string on mouth of bag, etc.”)
• béalstóinsithe (“taciturn”)
• béalteann (“firm, forceful of speech”)
• béaltirim (“dry-lipped, parched”)
• béaltriail (“oral test”)
• braon i mbéal na gaoithe (“blown drops of rain”)
• briathra béil (“spoken words”)
• buinne béil (“rim-wale”)
• clár béil (“lid”)
• comhrá béil (“gossip, hearsay”)
• cruabhéalach (“hard-mouthed of horse”)
• cuas an bhéil
• cuntas béil (“oral, verbal, account”)
• deimheas béil (“sharp tongue”)
• doras béil (“front door”)
• éist do bhéal (“shut your mouth”)
• faoi bhéal an aeir (“under the open sky”)
• faoistin bhéil (“oral confession”)
• folcadh béil (“mouth-wash”)
• galar béil (“thrush”)
• galar crúibe is béil (“foot-and-mouth disease”)
• garbh-bhéal
• gearrbhéalach (“curt, abrupt”)
• gnéas béil (“oral sex”)
• gunna béal-lódáilte (“muzzle-loader”)
• i mbéal na gaoithe (“in the teeth of the wind”)
• íde béil (“verbal abuse, revilement”)
• leathadh béil (“gaping”)
• luas béil (“muzzle-velocity”)
• mórbhéalach (“big-mouthed, blabbering”)
• orgán béil (“mouth-organ”)
• píopa béil (“flue-pipe”)
• port béil (“lilt”)
• rá béil (“verbal expression, statement”)
• raon faoi bhéal (“point-blank range”)
• salachar béil (“thrush; orf”)
• scagbhéalach (“tattling, indiscreet”)
• slat bhéil (“gunwale”)
• teagasc béil (“oral instruction; oral tradition”)
• tionóntacht bhéil (“parol tenancy”)

 

Related terms

• beola

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
béal	bhéal	mbéal
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “béal”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “bél”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 61