úachtar

See also: uachtar

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *ouxteros.

Compare Ancient Greek ὑψηλός (hupsēlós, “high”), αὐξω (auxō, “increase”); Latin augeo (“I increase”), vigeo (“I am strong”).

Noun

úachtar n

1. surface, top
2. cream

Inflection

Neuter o-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	úachtarN	úachtarN	úachtarL, úachtara
vocative	úachtarN	úachtarN	úachtarL, úachtara
accusative	úachtarN	úachtarN	úachtarL, úachtara
genitive	úachtairL	úachtar	úachtarN
dative	úachturL	úachtaraib	úachtaraib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Alternative forms

• óchtar (early)

Derived terms

• úachtarach (“upper, higher; superior in rank; final, decisive”)

Descendants

• Irish: uachtar
• Manx: eaghtyr
• Scottish Gaelic: uachdar
• ⇒ Middle Irish: úachtarán
  • Irish: uachtarán
  • Manx: eaghtyrane
  • Scottish Gaelic: uachdaran

Mutation

Mutation of úachtar

radical	lenition	nasalization
úachtar (pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)	unchanged	n-úachtar

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

References

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 úachtar”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language