oiread

Irish

Alternative forms

• urad (Ulster)
• oiréad, oired, uiread, uiriod (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Irish airet, from ar- + fot (“length”). Cognate with Scottish Gaelic urad.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈɪɾʲəd̪ˠ/, /ˈɛɾʲəd̪ˠ/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈɛɾʲəd̪ˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈʌɾˠəd̪ˠ/ (corresponding to the form urad)

Noun

oiread m (genitive singular oiread)

1. (literary) length (of time, space, distance)
2. amount, quantity, number, size

   Tá a dhá oiread ionat. ― You are twice his size.

   Gheobhaimis a thrí oiread air. ― We would get three times as much for it.

   Tá a cheithre oiread agat liom. ― You have four times as much as I do.

   Tá a oiread go leith agam leat. ― I have one and a half times as much as you.

   Tá a oiread eile sa phota eile. ― There is as much again in the other pot.

   Is fiú bhur n-oiread féin óir sibh. ― You (pl.) are worth your weight in gold.

   Ní cóir dá oiread féin d’fhear a dhéanamh sin. ― A man of his size shouldn’t do that.

   Níl oiread m’ordóige inti. ― She isn't as big as my thumb.

   Tá tú righin do d’oiread. ― You’re tough for your size.

Usage notes

• Unlike virtually all other masculine nouns, does not undergo t-prothesis with the definite article in the nominative singular; compare an oiread (“the amount”) with an t-oireacht (“the assembly”). Adjectives, however, do not lenite, as with normal masculine nouns: an oiread céanna (“the same amount”), an oiread beacht (“the exact amount”), etc.

Derived terms

• a oiread (“as much, so much”)
• ach oiread (“either”)
• an oiread, an oiread seo (“so much, so many”)
• oiread na fríde (“the tiniest bit”)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
oiread	n-oiread	hoiread	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “oiread”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Entries containing “oiread” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 91
• Entries containing “oiread” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.
• Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 71