cuileann

See also: cuileanna

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish cuilenn m (“(wood of the) holly-tree”) (compare Scottish Gaelic cuileann, Manx cullyn), from Proto-Celtic *kolinnos (compare Welsh celyn, Breton kelenn), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to beat, break”) (compare English holly).

Noun

cuileann m or f (genitive singular cuilinn)

1. holly

Declension

Declension of cuileann (first declension, no plural)

bare forms case singular nominative cuileann vocative a chuilinn genitive cuilinn dative cuileann forms with the definite article case singular nominative an cuileann genitive an chuilinn dative leis an gcuileann don chuileann

Derived terms

• crann cuilinn (“holly-tree”)
• cuileann duimhche (“sea holly”)
• cuileann trá (“sea holly”)
• cuileann Muire (“withered Christmas holly”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of cuileann

radical	lenition	eclipsis
cuileann	chuileann	gcuileann

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) “cuileann”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “cuilenn”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “cuileann”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “cuileann”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

Scottish Gaelic

Alternative forms

• cuilfhionn, cuilionn

Etymology

From Old Irish cuilenn m (“(wood of the) holly-tree”) (compare Irish cuileann, Manx cullyn), from Proto-Celtic *kolinnos (compare Welsh celyn, Breton kelenn), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to beat, break”) (compare English holly).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʰulən̪ˠ/

Noun

cuileann m (genitive singular cuilinn)

1. holly

Derived terms

• crann-cuilinn (“holly tree”)
• craobh-chuilinn (“holly tree”)
• cuileann-mara (“sea holly”)
• cuileann-tràgha (“sea holly”)
• gealbhonn-cuileann (“bullfinch”)

Mutation

Mutation of cuileann

radical	lenition
cuileann	chuileann

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

Further reading

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “cuileann”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[1], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “cuilenn”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language