Wiktionary

Irish

English

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Wiktionary
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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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.
  2. Pertaining to the Irish language.
  3. (derogatory) nonsensical, daft or complex.
    • 1995, Irving Lewis Allen, The City in Slang: New York Life and Popular Speech:
      The slur continued with Irish confetti, a popular term for paving stones or Belgian bricks that were laid in New York streets beginning about 1832.

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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