fáilte

See also: failte and fàilte

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish fáilte, from Old Irish fáilte, from Proto-Celtic *wāletiyā, from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁-.

Pronunciation

• (Kerry) IPA^(key): /ˈfˠɑːlʲtʲə/
• (Cork) IPA^(key): /ˈfˠɑːlʲhə/
• (Connacht, Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈfˠɑːlʲtʲə/, /ˈfˠɑːl̠ʲtʲə/

Noun

fáilte f (genitive singular fáilte, nominative plural fáiltí)

1. A welcome (with roimh plus the person being welcomed)

   Bhí fáilte is fiche aige romham.

   He had a great welcome for me (lit. ‘He had 21 welcomes before me’)

   D’fhear sí fáilte romhainn.

   She welcomed us (lit. ‘She provided a welcome before us’)

2. (archaic) delight, joy

Declension

Declension of fáilte (fourth declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative fáilte fáiltí vocative a fháilte a fháiltí genitive fáilte fáiltí dative fáilte fáiltí forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an fháilte na fáiltí genitive na fáilte na bhfáiltí dative leis an bhfáilte don fháilte leis na fáiltí

Derived terms

• anfháilte
• céad míle fáilte
• cuir fáilte roimh (“welcome”)
• fáilte an Aingil (“Angelus”)
• fáilte Uí Cheallaigh (“a very hearty welcome”, literally “O’Kelly’s welcome”)
• fáilteach
• fáilteoir (“welcomer; receptionist”)
• fáiltigh (“be glad, rejoice; welcome”)
• fáiltiúil (“joyous, glad; welcoming”)
• fuarfháilte (“lukewarm welcome”)
• tá fáilte romhat, romhaibh

Related terms

• fáilteachas m (“welcoming, welcoming manner”)

Interjection

fáilte

1. Welcome!

Mutation

Mutated forms of fáilte

radical	lenition	eclipsis
fáilte	fháilte	bhfáilte

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

Further reading

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “fáilte”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 293
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “fáilte”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “fáilte”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “fáilte”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025
• “fáilte”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy

Middle Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish fáilte, from Proto-Celtic *wāletiyā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɸaːl͈ʲtʲə/

Noun

fáilte f

1. welcome
   • c. 1000, “The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig”, in Ernst Windisch, editor, Irische Texte, volume 1, published 1800, section 1:

     Ro·ferad failte friu uile, ocus ructha chuci-sium isin mbruidin.

     They were all made welcome and brought to him in the hall.

     (literally, “A welcome was provided to them all…”)

Descendants

• Irish: fáilte
• Manx: failt
• Scottish Gaelic: fàilte

Mutation

Mutation of fáilte

radical	lenition	nasalization
fáilte	ḟáilte	fáilte pronounced with /β(ʲ)-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Middle 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), “fáilte, faílte”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• faílte

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *wāletiyā. By surface analysis, fáilid +‎ -e.

Cognate with Old English wele, wela, willan (“to wish”), Latin volō (“to want”).(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɸaːl͈ʲtʲe]

Noun

fáilte f

1. joy, happiness
   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 92^a17

     Bed indbadigthi .i. bed chuintechti .i. cid fáilte ad·cot-sa ⁊ du·ngnéu, is túsu immid·folngi dam, a Dǽ; cid indeb dano ad·cot, is tú, Dǽ, immid·folngi dam.

     To be enriched, i.e. to be sought, i.e. though it is joy that I obtain and make, it is you who effects it for me, O God; so too, though it is wealth that I obtain, it is you, God, who effects it for me.

2. salute
3. welcome

Inflection

Feminine iā-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	fáilteL	fáiltiL	fáilti
vocative	fáilteL	fáiltiL	fáilti
accusative	fáiltiN	fáiltiL	fáilti
genitive	fáilte	fáilteL	fáilteN
dative	fáiltiL	fáiltib	fáiltib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

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

Descendants

• Middle Irish: fáilte
  • Irish: fáilte
  • Manx: failt
  • Scottish Gaelic: fàilte

Adjective

fáilte

1. inflection of fáilid:
   1. feminine genitive singular
   2. all genders genitive plural

Mutation

Mutation of fáilte

radical	lenition	nasalization
fáilte	ḟáilte	fáilte pronounced with /β(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), “fáilte, faílte”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language