céile

See also: cèile and -cèile

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish céile, from Primitive Irish ᚉᚓᚂᚔ (celi, “follower, devotee (genitive)”), from Proto-Celtic *keiliyos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈceːlʲə/

Noun

céile m (genitive singular céile, nominative plural céilí)

1. companion
2. spouse

Declension

Declension of céile (fourth declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative céile céilí vocative a chéile a chéilí genitive céile céilí dative céile céilí forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an céile na céilí genitive an chéile na gcéilí dative leis an gcéile don chéile leis na céilí

Derived terms

• a chéile (“each other, one another”)
• aonchéileach (“monogamous”, adjective)
• as a chéile (“one after another, in a row, consecutively”)
• athair céile (“father-in-law”)
• bean chéile, céile mná (“wife”)
• céile fir, fear céile (“husband”)
• le chéile (“together”)
• máthair chéile (“mother-in-law”)
• trína chéile (“mixed up”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of céile

radical	lenition	eclipsis
céile	chéile	gcéile

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) “céile”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Old Irish

FWOTD – 30 September 2013

Alternative forms

• céele, céle

Etymology

From Primitive Irish ᚉᚓᚂᚔ (celi, “follower, devotee”, genitive), from Proto-Celtic *keiliyos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkʲeːlʲe]

Noun

céile m (genitive céili, nominative plural céili)

1. servant, bondsman, subject
2. (law) liege, vassal, the recipient of a fief
3. fellow, companion, neighbour
4. husband
5. (rare) wife

For quotations using this term, see Citations:céile.

Declension

Masculine io-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	céile	céileL	céiliL
vocative	céili	céileL	céiliu
accusative	céileN	céileL	céiliuH
genitive	céiliL	céileL	céileN
dative	céiliuL	céilib	céilib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

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

Derived terms

• a chéile (“one another, each other”)
• céile Dé (“servant of God, Culdee”)
• céilide (“visit”)
• céilsine (“clientship”)
• coicéile (“companion, fellow, comrade”)
• coicéilsine (“fellowship, clientship”)

Descendants

• Irish: céile
• Manx: keilley
• Scottish Gaelic: cèile

Mutation

Mutation of céile

radical	lenition	nasalization
céile	chéile	céile pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/

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

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