sealbhach

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish selbach (“having great possessions; possessive, grasping; an owner, a landholder”), from selb (“property, appurtenance, domain, possessions; a flock, a herd; property, estate; ownership, possession”). By surface analysis, seilbh (“possession”) +‎ -ach (adjectival suffix).

Adjective

sealbhach (genitive singular masculine sealbhaigh, genitive singular feminine sealbhaí, plural sealbhacha)

1. having possessions
2. possessive
   1. possessive, grasping (of a person)
   2. (grammar) possessive
3. (law) possessory

Declension

Declension of sealbhach

	singular		plural (m/f)
Positive	masculine	feminine	(strong noun)	(weak noun)
nominative	sealbhach	shealbhach	sealbhacha; shealbhacha2
vocative	shealbhaigh		sealbhacha
genitive		sealbhaí	sealbhacha	sealbhach
dative	sealbhach; shealbhach1	shealbhach; shealbhaigh (archaic)	sealbhacha; shealbhacha2
Comparative	níos sealbhaí
Superlative	is sealbhaí

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

Derived terms

• aidiacht shealbhach f (“possessive adjective”)
• forainm sealbhach m (“possessive pronoun”)
• teideal sealbhach m (“possessory title”)
• tuiseal sealbhach m (“possessive case”)

 

Noun

sealbhach m (genitive singular sealbhaigh, nominative plural sealbhaigh)

1. (grammar) possessive (case)

   Synonym: tuiseal sealbhach

2. flock
   1. flock, herd

      Synonym: sealbhán

   2. flock, number, group

      Synonym: sealbhán

3. occupier; possessor, holder, occupant

   Synonym: sealbhóir

Declension

Declension of sealbhach (first declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative sealbhach sealbhaigh vocative a shealbhaigh a shealbhacha genitive sealbhaigh sealbhach dative sealbhach sealbhaigh forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an sealbhach na sealbhaigh genitive an tsealbhaigh na sealbhach dative leis an sealbhach don sealbhach leis na sealbhaigh

Mutation

Mutated forms of sealbhach

radical	lenition	eclipsis
sealbhach	shealbhach after an, tsealbhach	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) “sealbhach”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “selbach”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “sealbhach”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “sealbhach”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

Scottish Gaelic

Alternative forms

• seilbheach

Etymology

From Old Irish selbach (“having great possessions; possessive, grasping; an owner, a landholder”), from selb (“property, appurtenance, domain, possessions; a flock, a herd; property, estate; ownership, possession”). By surface analysis, sealbh (“possession; inheritance; luck, good luck”) +‎ -ach (adjectival suffix).

Adjective

sealbhach (genitive singular feminine sealbhaiche)

1. fortunate, lucky
2. prosperous
3. (grammar, etc.) possessive

Derived terms

• riochdair seilbheach m (“possessive pronoun”)

Mutation

Mutation of sealbhach

radical	lenition
sealbhach	shealbhach after "an", t-sealbhach

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

References

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “sealbhach”, 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), “selbach”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language