a chéile

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish a chéile. Literally, “his companion”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈçeːlʲə/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /aˈçɛlʲə/

Pronoun

a chéile

1. each other, one another

Usage notes

After a preposition ending in a vowel, the preposition and the a may contract in the usual way for a (“his”), or the a may be deleted (though its lenition effect on chéile remains):

• lena chéile or le chéile (“with each other”)
• óna chéile or ó chéile (“from each other”)

Derived terms

• as éadan a chéile
• i dteannta a chéile
• le chéile
• trína chéile

Further reading

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

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• a chéele

Etymology

Literally, “his companion”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [aˈxʲeːlʲe]

Pronoun

a chéile

1. each other, one another

Quotations

• c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 6^d4

  Íroimed cách a chéele per caritatem .i. do maith friss

  Let every one receive each other by love, i.e. for good unto him.

Further reading

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