meitheal

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish methel, from Proto-Celtic *metelā (“troop of reapers”) (whence also Welsh medel (“reaping party”)), from the root of *meteti (“to reap, cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *met- (“to cut, reap”) (compare Latin metō, Czech and Polish motyka (“hoe”), English mattock.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmʲɛhəl̪ˠ/
• (Connacht, Ulster, also) IPA^(key): /ˈmʲɛhəlˠ/

Noun

meitheal f (genitive singular meithle, nominative plural meithleacha) or
meitheal m (genitive singular meithil, nominative plural meithil)

1. group of people employed in the same agricultural work (e.g. making hay, cutting turf)
2. (especially) band of reapers
3. work party, gang (company of laborers)
4. contingent (quota of troops)
5. team (group of people)

   Synonym: foireann

Declension

As a feminine second-declension noun:

Declension of meitheal

Second declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative meitheal meithelacha Vocative a mheitheal a mheithelacha Genitive meithle meithelacha Dative meitheal meithil (archaic, dialectal) meithelacha

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an mheitheal na meithelacha Genitive na meithle na meithelacha Dative leis an meitheal leis an meithil (archaic, dialectal) don mheitheal don mheithil (archaic, dialectal) leis na meithelacha

As a masculine first-declension noun:

Declension of meitheal

First declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative meitheal meithil Vocative a mheithil a mheitheala Genitive meithil meitheal Dative meitheal meithil

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an meitheal na meithil Genitive an mheithil na meitheal Dative leis an meitheal don mheitheal leis na meithil

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
meitheal	mheitheal	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• “meitheal”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 meithel”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “meiṫeal”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 480
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “meitheal”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 34