saothar

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish saíthar, from Proto-Celtic *saitrom, from Proto-Indo-European *sh₂ey-trom (“binding, fetter”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈsˠeːhəɾˠ/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈsˠiːhəɾˠ/
  • (Cois Fharraige) IPA^(key): /ˈsˠiːɾˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈsˠihəɾˠ/, (older) /ˈsˠɯhəɾˠ/

Noun

saothar m (genitive singular saothair, nominative plural saothair)

1. labour (work); toil, exertion; stress, effort

   gan saothar ― without effort

2. work (product of labour)
   1. thing done, achievement
   2. works; literary or artistic composition
3. (music) opus
4. (music, literature) composition, piece
5. job of destruction
6. (literary) travail, pangs of childbirth
7. evacuation of bowels; excrement
8. (as verbal noun, ag ~) labouring, toiling

Declension

Declension of saothar (first declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative saothar saothair vocative a shaothair a shaothara genitive saothair saothar dative saothar saothair forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an saothar na saothair genitive an tsaothair na saothar dative leis an saothar don saothar leis na saothair

Synonyms

• (labour): obair
• (composition, piece): dréacht, píosa

Derived terms

• ardsaothar
• bileog shaothair
• saothar allamuigh (“field-work”)
• saothar an bháis (“death-throes”)
• saothar an lae (“the daily grind”)
• saothar anála (“panting, laboured breathing”)
• saothar bradáin (“process of spawning of salmon”)
• saothar coirp (“manpower”)
• saothar díreach (“direct labour”)
• saothar ealaíne (“art, artwork, work of art”)
• saothar ficsin (“work of fiction”)
• saothar foirne (“team effort”)
• saothar in aisce (“lost cause, labour in vain”)
• saothar indíreach (“indirect labour”)
• saothar láimhe (“handicraft”)
• saothar múrealaíne (“wall painting”)
• saothar seanré (“period piece”)
• saothar taifeadta (“discography”)
• saothar teibí (“abstract, abstraction”, noun)
• saotharlann (“laboratory”)
• saothrach
• saothraí
• saothraigh
• saothrán (“culture”)
• scoil saothair

 

Mutation

Mutated forms of saothar

radical	lenition	eclipsis
saothar	shaothar after an, tsaothar	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

• “saothar”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “saoṫar”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 595
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “saothar”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “saothar”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024