éan

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ean"

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish én, from Proto-Celtic *ɸetnos. Compare Welsh edn, English feather.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /iːɑ̯n̪ˠ/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /eːnˠ/, /eːn̪ˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /eːnˠ/, [ɛə̯nˠ]; /eːn̪ˠ/, [ɛə̯n̪ˠ]
• Homophone: aon

Noun

éan m (genitive singular éin, nominative plural éin)

1. bird

   Luigh leis an uan, agus éirigh leis an éan.

   Lie with the lamb, and rise with the bird.

2. young (of bird)
3. (by extension) young (of other animals)

Declension

Declension of éan (first declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative éan éin vocative a éin a éana genitive éin éan dative éan éin forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an t-éan na héin genitive an éin na n-éan dative leis an éan don éan leis na héin

• Alternative plural: éanacha (Cois Fharraige, Mayo)

Derived terms

• ciseán éan
• dordéan (“hummingbird”)
• éan aille
• éan beannaithe
• éan ceoil
• éan circe
• éan corr
• éan creiche
• éan dearg
• éan gé (“gosling”)
• éan gréine
• éan gualainne
• éan lachan
• éan mara
• éan róin
• éan turcaí
• éan uisce géim
• éanach
• éanadán (“birdcage”)
• éanadóir
• éanaire
• éanán
• éaneolaí
• éaneolaíoch
• éanlaith
• éanlann
• éanúil
• éinín
• fliú na n-éan

 

Mutation

Mutated forms of éan

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
éan	n-éan	héan	t-éan

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “éan”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “éan”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “éan”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024