olc

See also: OLC and ölç

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish olc, from Proto-Celtic *ulkos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔl̪ˠk/, /ol̪ˠk/, /ɔlˠk/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /ˈolˠək/

Noun

olc m (genitive singular oilc, nominative plural oilc)

1. evil
2. bad (in the world; of people, things)
3. misfortune
4. grudge

Declension

Declension of olc (first declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative olc oilc vocative a oilc a olca genitive oilc olc dative olc oilc forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an t-olc na hoilc genitive an oilc na n-olc dative leis an olc don olc leis na hoilc

Adjective

olc (genitive singular masculine oilc, genitive singular feminine oilce, plural olca, comparative measa)

1. bad, evil
2. unfortunate
3. wicked

Declension

Declension of olc

	singular		plural (m/f)
Positive	masculine	feminine	(strong noun)	(weak noun)
nominative	olc	olc	olca
vocative	oilc		olca
genitive		oilce	olca	olc
dative	olc	olc; oilc (archaic)	olca
Comparative	níos measa
Superlative	is measa

Synonyms

• dona
• droch-

Mutation

Mutated forms of olc

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
olc	n-olc	holc	not applicable

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

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• olcc, elc

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *ulkos, of uncertain etymology. May be related to Latin ulcus and English ill. Alternatively, it may be from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos (“wolf”), although there are considerable phonological and semantic difficulties with this etymology.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [olk]

Adjective

olc (comparative messa, superlative mesam)

1. bad, evil
   • 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. 51^b10

     In tan as·mber Dauid “intellectum tibi dabo”, sech is arde són do·mbéra Día do neuch nod·n-eirbea ind ⁊ génas triit con·festar cid as imgabthi do dénum di ulc ⁊ cid as déinti dó di maith. Aithesc trá lesom insin a persin Dǽ.

     When David says, “I will give thee understanding”, that is a sign that God will give to everyone that will trust in him, and work through him, that he may know what evil he must avoid doing, and what good he must do. He has then here a reply in the person of God.

2. (nominalized, neuter) evil
   • 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. 144^d3

     Nach torbatu coitchenn ro·boí indib fri dénum n-uilc, at·rubalt tar hǽsi á pectha.

     Any common advantage that had been in them for doing evil, it has perished for their sin.

Inflection

Due to the adjective's near-exclusive use as a nominative predicative adjective (with the prefix droch serving attributive function), inflections of the adjective are rarely, if ever, encountered. However, inflections of substantivized forms of this adjective are common.

o/ā-stem
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	olc	olc	olc
Vocative	uilc* olc**
Accusative	olc	uilc
Genitive	uilc	uilce	uilc
Dative	ulc	uilc	ulc
Plural	Masculine	Feminine/neuter
Nominative	uilc	olca
Vocative	ulcu olca†
Accusative	ulcu olca†
Genitive	olc
Dative	olcaib
Notes	*modifying a noun whose vocative is different from its nominative **modifying a noun whose vocative is identical to its nominative † not when substantivized

Descendants

• Irish: olc
• Manx: olk
• Scottish Gaelic: olc

Mutation

Mutation of olc

radical	lenition	nasalization
olc (pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)	unchanged	n-olc

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), “olc”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish olc, from Proto-Celtic *ulkos.

Pronunciation

• (Lewis, Harris) IPA^(key): /ɔl̪ˠk/, [ɔl̪̊ˠk]
• (Uist, Barra, Skye) IPA^(key): /ɔl̪ˠxk/, [ɔl̪̊ˠxk]

Noun

olc m (genitive uilc, plural uilc)

1. evil, wickedness

   Nar fhaiceam olc, nar chluinneam olc, nar labhram olc. ― See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

   Chan eil cleith air an olc ach gun a dhèanamh. ― The only way to conceal evil is not to commit it.

2. harm, hurt
3. infamy, mischief, wrongdoing

Adjective

olc (comparative miosa, qualitative noun miosad)

1. evil, wicked, bad

   'S olc an comharradh air a' chreig na h-eòin a bhith a' falbh aiste ― It's a bad sign on the rock for the birds to go away.

2. infamous, untoward, reprobate

Synonyms

• dona
• droch

Derived terms

• cha tig olc à teine (“fire purifies (fig.)”)
• co-olc (“anger”)
• co-olcach (“angry”)
• co-olcail (“angry, annoyed”)
• eadar math is olc (“both good and bad”)
• olc no èiginn (“one way or another, anyway”)
• olcas (“wickedness, badness”)
• thig an t-olc na bheachd (“speak of the Devil”)
• thig an t-olc ri iomradh (“speak of the Devil”)

 

Mutation

Mutation of olc

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
olc	n-olc	h-olc	t-olc

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