badhbh
Irish
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Old Irish badb (“crow, witch”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editbadhbh f (genitive singular baidhbhe, nominative plural badhbha)
- war-goddess
- hooded crow
- between 1583 and 1591, Tadhg Dall Ó hUiginn, “Cath Droma Lighean”, in The bardic poems of Tadhg Dall Ó Huiginn[1]:
- Budh iomdha ar madoin go moch/ proinn dá caitheamh go corrach;/ laoich ag ionnráithne a n-arm ngéar,/ iolgháirthe badhbh is brainéan.
- In the morn betimes/ there will be many a meal consumed without comfort,/ warriors whetting (?) their keen weapons,/ shrieks of scaldcrows and ravens.
- vulture or other ravenous bird
- Synonyms: bultúr, garrfhiach
- a. 1639, “Leviticus 11:14”, in Muircheartach Óg Ó Cíonga, transl., An Bíobla Naomhtha:
- An badhbh, préacháin na gcéarc do réir a chinnéil;
- and the vulture, and the kite after his kind
- a scold or curser
- a female fairy said to be attached to certain families and to foretell death, appearing as a hooded crow
- Synonym: bean sí
- 1974, Béaloideas, volumes 42–47, page 99:
- ... deirtí go bhfeictí an bhadhbh i bhfoirm mná breá dathúil, gruaig fhada de dhath an óir síos go sála uirthí, i ina suí ar an gcathaoir so agus í ag cíoradh a cinn.
- ... it was said that the badhbh was seen in the shape of a fine good-looking woman with long golden hair down to her heels sitting on this chair and she combing her hair.
Declension
editDerived terms
edit- badhbh chaointe (“banshee”)
- badhbh ghríofa (“griffon vulture”)
- badhbha (“martial, warlike”, adjective)
Descendants
edit- → English: bibe
Mutation
editradical | lenition | eclipsis |
---|---|---|
badhbh | bhadhbh | mbadhbh |
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
Further reading
edit- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “badhbh”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
- Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “baḋḃ”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 46
- Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “badb”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
- de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “badhbh”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
- “badhbh”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024