cailleach

See also: Cailleach

English

Alternative forms

• caillach, cailliach

Etymology

From Scots, from Scottish Gaelic cailleach.

Noun

cailleach (plural cailleachs)

1. (Scotland) An old woman.

Irish

cailleach

Etymology

From Old Irish caillech (“nun, elderly woman”), from caille (“veil”) (+ -ech), from Latin pallium. Cognate with Manx caillagh.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /kəˈlʲax/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈkal̠ʲəx/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈkæl̠ʲa(x)/

Noun

cailleach f (genitive singular caillí, nominative plural cailleacha)

1. (historical) nun

   Synonyms: cailleach dhubh, cailleach Mhuire

2. old woman, hag
3. witch
   • 2015 [2014], Will Collins, translated by Proinsias Mac a' Bhaird, edited by Maura McHugh, Amhrán na Mara (fiction; paperback), Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Howth, Dublin: Cartoon Saloon; Coiscéim, translation of Song of the Sea (in English), →ISBN, page 7:

     Macha, Cailleach na nUlchabhán

     [original: Macha the Owl Witch]

4. (informal, usually derogatory) old dear, old girl
5. (informal, offensive, derogatory) old bag, bitch, cow, dog, shrew
6. stone weight, stone boat anchor
7. alcove; (familiar) snuggery

   Synonym: cailleach shúgáin

Declension

Declension of cailleach (second declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative cailleach cailleacha vocative a chailleach a chailleacha genitive caillí cailleach dative cailleach cailligh (archaic, dialectal) cailleacha forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an chailleach na cailleacha genitive na caillí na gcailleach dative leis an gcailleach leis an gcailligh (archaic, dialectal) don chailleach don chailligh (archaic, dialectal) leis na cailleacha

Derived terms

• beacán na caillí m (“lady in the veil (type of mushroom)”)
• cailleach an ghiodail f (“pert hussy”)
• cailleach an uafáis f (“alarmist; scaremonger”)
• cailleach bhasctha f (“protruding object in ground”)
• cailleach bheag f (“bee orchid”)
• cailleach bhreac f (“larger spotted dog-fish”)
• cailleach bhréagach f (“spotted orchid”)
• cailleach chneasta f (“white witch”)
• cailleach chrainn f (“wood-louse”)
• cailleach dharach f (“oak stump”)
• cailleach dhearg f (“corn poppy”)
• cailleach dhubh f (“nun; cormorant”)
• cailleach feasa f (“sorceress, witch”)
• cailleach fhada f (“long-headed poppy”)
• cailleach fhuar f (“early purple orchid”)
• cailleach gheamaireachta f (“pantomime dame”)
• cailleach ghiúise f (“pine stump”)
• cailleach ghoile f (“tapeworm”)
• cailleach Mhuire f (“nun”)
• cailleach na gcearc f (“hag, witch”)
• cailleach na luatha f (“cricket”)
• cailleach na luatha buí f (“cinderella”)
• cailleach na mbréag f (“lying hussy”)
• cailleach oíche f (“owl; death watch beetle”)
• cailleach phiseogach f (“sorceress”)
• cailleach rua f (“loach”)
• cailleachas m (“haggishness”)
• cailleachúil (“haggish”, adj)
• codladh na Caillí Béarra m (“protracted sleep”)
• comhrá cailleach m (“old wives’ tales”)
• feoil na caillí f (“polyporus”)
• fia-chailleach f (“hag, witch”)
• galar scuab na caillí m (“witch's broom”)
• gas caillí Artach m (“northern rock-cress”)
• gas caillí duimhche m (“fringed rock-cress”)
• gas caillí giobach m (“hairy rock-cress”)
• hata caillí m (“witch's hat”)
• leigheas caillí m (“old woman's remedy”)
• méara na caillí f (“mermaid's glove”)
• peata caillí m (“pampered child”, literally “an old woman’s pet”)
• ruacán caillí m (“crone”)
• samhairle caillí m (“disagreeable hag”)
• scuab caillí f (“witch's broomstick”)
• seanchailleach f (“witch, hag”)
• smior chailleach f (“spinal marrow”)
• snaidhm chaillí f (“granny knot”)
• sparán na caillí mairbhe m (“egg-case of skate”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of cailleach

radical	lenition	eclipsis
cailleach	chailleach	gcailleach

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) “cailleach”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “cailleach”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “cailleach”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025
• “cailleach”, in The National Terminology Database for Irish, Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU and Foras na Gaeilge, 2006–2025

Scots

Etymology

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic cailleach, from Old Irish caillech, from caille (“veil”) + -ach.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkeljʌx], [ˈkalʌx], [ˈkaljʌx]

Noun

cailleach (plural cailleachs)

1. old woman, crone

   Synonym: auld wife

Descendants

• → English: cailleach, Cailleach

References

• MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “cailleach”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎^[1], Stirling, →ISBN

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish caillech, from caille (“veil”) + -ach. Cognate with Manx caillagh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʰaʎəx/

Noun

cailleach f (genitive singular cailliche, plural cailleachan)

1. old woman, old wife
   1. (can be derogatory) old dear, biddy
   2. hag, crone
2. woman, wife
3. cowl (on a chimney)

Derived terms

• Cailleach f (“the week in spring after “Gearran”, i.e. from 12th to 18th April”)
• cailleach bheag an earbaill f (“long-tailed tit”)
• cailleach-baic f (“in cutting peats, the outside peat in a bank”)
• cailleach-bhàn f (“snowy owl”)
• cailleach-chasach f (“slater, woodlouse; millipede”)
• cailleach-cheann-dubh f (“cole titmouse, cole; black cap”)
• cailleach-chòsag f (“slater, woodlouse”)
• cailleach-dhubh f (“nun; European shag, common shag”)
• cailleach-fhasgnaidh f (“corn fanner”)
• cailleach-fhraoich f (“a large sheaf of heather tied tightly together with ropes of the same material, used as a door to a sheep cot or similar building”)
• cailleach-oidhche f (“common owl; tawny owl; spiritless fellow; butterfly”)
• cailleach-oidhche gheal, cailleach-bhàn f (“white owl”)
• cailleach-oidhche-mhòr f (“eagle owl”)
• cailleach-spuinge f (“touchwood, soft tinder”)
• cailleach-uisge f (“water-woman, water-carlin; diseased potato containing only water”)
• cìochan nan cailleach marbha m (“foxglove”)

See also

• bodach

Mutation

Mutation of cailleach

radical	lenition
cailleach	chailleach

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

References

• MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “cailleach”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎^[2], Stirling, →ISBN