corcra

Irish

Etymology 1

From Old Irish corcra, attributive genitive of corcair (“purple”); akin to Latin purpura (compare Welsh porffor), from Ancient Greek πορφύρα (porphúra).

Adjective

corcra

1. purple

Declension

Declension of corcra

	singular		plural (m/f)
Positive	masculine	feminine	(strong noun)	(weak noun)
nominative	corcra	chorcra	corcra; chorcra2
vocative	chorcra		corcra
genitive		corcra	corcra	corcra
dative	corcra; chorcra1	chorcra	corcra; chorcra2
Comparative	níos corcra
Superlative	is corcra

¹ When the preceding noun is lenited and governed by the definite article.
² When the preceding noun ends in a slender consonant.

Alternative forms

• corcardha
• corcrach

Derived terms

• an galar corcra (“purpura”)
• corcra dorcha, dúchorcra (“aubergine”) (colour)
• corcraigh (“purple; crimson, bloody”, verb)
• croí corcra (“purple heart”)
• scothchorcra (“purplish”, adjective)

Etymology 2

Noun

corcra f sg

1. genitive singular of corcair

Mutation

Mutated forms of corcra

radical	lenition	eclipsis
corcra	chorcra	gcorcra

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern 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), “corcair”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “corcra”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “corcra”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “purple”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025