cladhaire

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish cladaire m (“ditch digger”), from Old Irish clad m (“ditch, trench; dyke, earthen rampart”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈkl̪ˠɑiɾʲə/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈklˠeːɾʲə/, [ˈklˠeiɾʲə]; (older) /ˈklˠɤːɾʲə/, [ˈklˠɤiɾʲə]

Noun

cladhaire m (genitive singular cladhaire, nominative plural cladhairí)

1. (literary) ditcher
2. villain; rogue, trickster
3. spineless person; coward

Derived terms

• claidhreacht f (“villainy, roguery; cowardice”)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
cladhaire	chladhaire	gcladhaire
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “cladhaire”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish cladaire m (“ditch digger”), from Old Irish clad m (“ditch, trench; dyke, earthen rampart”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʰl̪ˠɤ.ɪɾʲə/

Noun

cladhaire m (genitive singular cladhaire, plural cladhairean)

1. coward, poltroon
2. hero
3. one superintending the burying of soldiers in an army
4. gravedigger
5. rogue

Synonyms

• (coward): gealtaire

Derived terms

• cladhaireachd f (“cowardice”)

Mutation

Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical	Lenition
cladhaire	chladhaire
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “cladhaire”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[1], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “cladaire”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language