Table Of ContentThe
Essential
English-Gaelic
Dictionary
Compiled by
ANGUS WATSON
---------..
THE ESSENTIAL
ENGLISH-GAELIC DICTIONARY
The Essential
English-Gaelic
Dictionary
A Dictionaryfor Students and Learners of
Scottish Gaelic
Compiledby
ANGUS WATSON
Blrllnn
Firstpublished inZOO5by
BirlinnLimited
WestNewingtonHouse
10Newington Road
Contents
Edinburgh EH91QS
www.birlinn.co.uk
Copyright©AngusWatsonZOO5
Themoral rightofAngusWatson tobeidentifiedastheauthorofthis
workhasbeenassertedbyhim inaccordancewiththeCopyright,
Introduction vu
Designsand PatentsAct1988
Layout of Entries
1)(
All rightsreserved. Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
stored or transmitted inanyform withouttheexpress written
permission ofthepublisher. Acknowledgements xii
List ofAbbreviations xiii
The Dictionary 1
The Forms of the Gaelic Article 422
ISBN 10:184158106 Z
ISBN 13:9781841581064
BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
Acatalogue record for thisbookisavailable from theBritishLibrary
ThugComhairlenanLeabhraicheanlabharlasbarantaisdhan
fhoillsichearairsonobairdeasachaidhairan leabharseo,aguschuidich
a'Chomhairlelecosgaiseananleabhair
TypesetbyEdderston BookDesign,Peebles
PrintedandboundbyCreative Printand Design, EbbwVale, Wales
Introduction
This volume complements the same compiler's Essential Gaelic-English
Dictionary, published by Birlinn in 2001. The intention has been to make
available, in a format that is pleasant to handle, a generous proportion of
"essential" or core Gaelic. For this reason much of the material given is
common to the two volumes, and can thus be accessed from the starting
pointofeither English or Gaelic.
Though dictionaries are not learning tools in the way that grammars
do Sheonaid, a-rithist or course books are, anyone who was to absorb a reasonable proportion
of the content of these volumes would be well equipped to function in
a Gaelic-speaking environment, and from then on to learn by using the
language- which is, afterall, the bestway!
Akey feature ofboth volumes has been, where appropriate, to present
headwords in terms of the different senses and nuances they may have
something notseriouslyattempted for GaelicsinceDwelly's monumental
Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary of 1901 and subsequent reprints.
Dwelly's volume remains a very impressive work of lexicography, but
Gaelic hasevolved so much since he gathered his material thatit is not to
be put into the hands of the unwary.
AmongEnglish-Gaelicdktionaries,AnStor-Diita BriathrachaisGiiidhlig/
TheGaelicTerminology Database,ClbOstaig,1993,doesnotattempttomake
clear distinctions between the different senses and shades of meaning a
headwordmighthave.Nonetheless,itgivesaheftyrangeofGaelicequiva
lents for a large number of English items, and is a valuable tool ifused
with discrimination. The number of equivalents given can be confusing
or off-putting, but the principle followed by the compilers was generally
to put the most commonly used Gaelic equivalents at the head of the
entry. The wise learner, ifunsure ofan item, will always try to confirm in
aGaelic-English dictionary the precisesense oftheGaelic word orwords
found.
Among other sources for equivalents for words and phrases are the
English-Gaelic Faclan Ura Giiidhlig, produced for the Highland Councilin
1993,and the much morenuanced Faclair na PiirlamaidlDictionaryofTerms,
published under the auspices of the Scottish Parliamentin 2001. The first
vii
ENGLISH-GAELICDlcnONARY
of these has a mix of technical and more everyday items. The second,
which has both English-Gaelicand Gaelic-Englishsections, deals mainly
with political and administrative vocabulary, but at the same time has
words and expressions that are useful in other contexts.
........... The Layout of the Entries
In compiling the Essential dictionaries I have not knowingly favoured
any particular Gaelic dialect, but have endeavoured to include words
and expressions that can be used in most, if not all, Scottish Gaelic
environments.
Within the entries, all English material for translation into Gaelic is
given in bold type. Italics are used for all other text in English, ie for
abbreviations, instructions such as see and Cj, and all notes, comments,
explanatorymaterial and grammaticalinformation. TheGaelictranslation
equivalents given for the English headwords, phrases and expressions,
represent current Gaelic usage except where marked trad (traditional),
occas (occasionally), &c. Gaelic spelling used corresponds to up-to-date
norms.Occasionallytwoacceptablespellingsaregivenfor thesameGaelic
word.
The examples given below show how in a typical entry the English
headword is followed by its part ofspeech, which is abbreviated (see list
ofabbreviationspp. xiii to xv).
abrupt adj 1 (sudden &c) grad; 2 (of persons: terse, sltort-tempered) cas,
aithghearr; 3(ofslope &c)cas
elder' n1 (church -) eildear m, (more trad) foirfeach m; 2 (older oftwo) am
fear/an te (&c) as sine,John is the - is elain am fear mas sine
These examples also show how synonyms or other inclications, such as
(older oftwo), are given in brackets, and often in numbered subsections,
to distinguish between the senses or contexts for which a given Gaelic
translationequivalentapplies. Inthe caseofelder', asuperscriptnumeral
is being used to make the distinction between English homonyms, that
is words with the same form but clifferent meanings - the entry elder' n
refers to theelder tree.
Gaelic nouns are given in the nominative singular (raclical) case,
followed by the abbreviated gender of thenoun, as follows:
safety ntearainteachdf invar, sabhailteachdf invar, in - an tearainteachd,
- equipmentuidheamf singcoil sabhailteachd
SomeGaelicnounshavebothgendersandthisisshownbytheabbreviation
nif. In the example above invar (invariable) also shows that the nouns in
viii ix
ENGLISH-GAELIC DICTIONARY ENGLISH-GAELIC DICTIONARY
question have only the one form, ie do not decline. It was also thought within the individual entries. Inparticular, the forms of the prepositional
helpful,especiallytolearners, togive thegenderofeverynounused inthe pronouns are given in full, and readers should consult the entry for the
examples throughout the dictionary (Cfuidheamf sing coli above), except corresponding English preposition.
where thegender is shown by adefinite article or a following adjective. The genitive and nominative plural forms of many Gaelic nouns, and
The Gaelic equivalents for many headwords are followed by common the presentparticiplesofmany verbs, are to be found within the relevant
expressions involving that headword. Each repetition of the English entries in the companion volume, The Essential Gaelic-English Dictionary.
headword is represented by the symbol -, as in - equipment (for safety Tables giving the forms of the irregular verbs likely to be encountered in
equipment) above. The abbreviation in erpr (in the expression) is used mainstream Gaelicare also to be found, at theend ofthesame volume.
to signal that in certain expressions, often idiomatic ones, the Gaelic
equivalent for a particular English headword or phrase is different from
the standardonesgiven earlier in theentry. This is illustrated by:
milk nbainne Ill, in erpr - cows crodh-eadraidhIII
Verbs are given in the second person singular imperative form. The
abbreviation vt (transitive verb) indicates that, in the sense concerned in
the entry, a given verb is used with a direct object, while vi (intransitive
verb) shows that it isused without a direct object. The following example
illustrates the difference between a transitive use of 'capsize', they
capsized her/the boat, and an intransitive use, the boat capsized.
capsize v 1 (as vt) cuir vt thairis, they -d her chuir iad thairis i; 2 (as VI)
rach vi thairis, the boat -d chaidh am bilta thairis, also chaidh car 111
dhen bhilta III
Averb thatcanbe used in either oftheseways is labelled vti, as follows:
gathervcruinnichvti,they-edinthebarnchruirmichiadsan t-sabhal,he
-ed them (together) in the barn chruirmiche iad san t-sabhal
Where a Gaelic verb takes a particular preposition, this is shown in
bracketsafter the verb, as follows:
accentuate v cuirstrac rn, leigcudthrom Ill, (with prepair)
In this particular case the comma after 'cudthrom Ill' indicates that both
theverbslisted take thesamepreposition,air, whereas in the entry below
the verbsconcerned take different prepositions.
advise v comhairlich vi (with prep do), thoir comhairle (with preps air or
do) ...
At the end of the dictionary will be found a table of the forms of the
Gaelic article, and much additional grammatical information is given
x xi
Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations
Wann thanks are due to theGaelic BooksCouncilfor a grant towards the abbrev abbreviation
costofcompiling this dictionary. abstr abstract
Ailean Boydwasonceagainmeticulousinhisreadingofthetypescript, acc accusative
and I am very grateful for his many suggestions and emendations. Any adj adjective, adjectival
errors remaining are, ofcourse, mine entirely. adv adverb, adverbial
Iwishespeciallytothankmywifeforherfinancialsupport-and forher agric agriculture, agricultural
patience,encouragementand goodhumour- during thelonggestation of alt alternative
this dictionary and its earlier Gaelic-English counterpart, when her man anat anatomy
was so often incommunicado in front of the word processor! approx approximate, approximately
art article
Bibl Bible, Biblical
bioi biology
bot botany, botanical
Cl compare
chem chemistry, chemical
call collective
camp comparative
con concrete
conj conjunction
cons consonant
corres correspondence, corresponding
dat dative
def defective
derog derogatory
dimin diminutive
ed education, educational
elec electric, electrical
emph emphasis, emphatic
Eng English
engin engineering
esp especially
excl(s) exclamation(s)
expr(s) expression(s)
xii xiii
ENGLISH-GAELIC DICTIONARY ENGLISH-GAELIC DICTIONARY
f feminine poss possessive
fam familiar prep pron prepositional pronoun
fig figurative,figuratively pres part present participle
fin financial,financially pron pronoun
freq frequent,frequently prov proverb
jut future psych psychology, psychological
geog geography,geographical pt part
gen genitive rei relative
gov government relig religion, religious
gram grammar, grammatical Se Scots (language)
hist history, historical sing singular
imper imperative singcoli singularcollective
incl including sp spelling
infin infinitive sup superlative
inter interrogative topog topography
invar invariable trad traditional, traditionally
irreg irregular typog typography
IT information technology, computing usu usual, usually
lang language v verb, verbal
lit literally veg vegetable
Lit literature, literary vi verb, intransitive
m masculine vt verb, transitive
med medical vti verb, transitive & intransitive
mise miscellaneous voc vocative
mus music, musical vulg vulgar
n noun
nee necessary, necessarily
neg negative
nf noun,feminine
nm noun, masculine
nmf noun, masculine& feminine
nom nominative
num(s) numeral(s), numerical
obs obsolete
aceas occasionally
past part past participle
PC politicallycorrect
pej pejorative
pers pron personal pronoun
philo philosophy
phys physical, physically
pi plural
poet poetical
pol politics, political
xiv xv
A
a.m. adv sa mhadainnf, six - sia uairean'!pl sa mhadainn
3, an indefinite art, 110t expressed in Gaelic, I saw - man chunnaic mi duine
m, I ate an apple dh'ith mi ubhalm
abandon v treig vt, he -ed his family threig ea theaghlach m, the people
-ed the island threig na daoine mpJ an t-eiJean, - the faith of your
forefathers treig creideamh mur sinnsirean mpl
abandonment tl treigsinn 111 invar
abasement nisleachadh m, self-- fein-isleachadh m
abash v naraich vt
abashed adj &past part naraichte, air a (&c) narachadh
abate v lughdaich vi, rach vi 5105, the storm -d lughdaich an stoirm ml,
chaidh an stoirm sios
• abatement n lughdachadh m
abattoir 11 taigh-spadaidh m
I
abbess 11 ban-aba
I
abbey n abaid
abbot 11 aba m
abbreviate vgiorraich vt
abbreviation 11 giorrachadh m
abdicate v leig dheth (&c) an crUn, the queen -d leig a' bhanrigh dhith
ancrim
abdication nleigeilmldheth (&c) a' chruin, after their - an deidh dhaibh
an crUn a leigeil dhiubh
abductv thoir vt air falbh
I
abduction n toirt ;Ilvnr air falbh
abetv cuidich vt;
abettor 11 pairtiche m, neach-cuideachaidh m (pI luchd-cuideachaidh m
s;llg coli)
abeyance nstad m, the scheme is in - tha an sgeama mna stad
abhorv, I - him/it tha grainI agam air
abhorrence ngrainI
abhorrentadj graineil
abide v 1 (stand, tolerate) fuiling vti, I can't - him/it chan fhuiling mi e,
(also) chan urrainn dhomh fhulang; 2 (Lit: dwell, Sc stay) fuirich v;,
comhnaich vi
abiding adj (endllr;llg) maireannach
I,
ability n comas m, - to speak comas bruidhne intellectual - comas
I,
inntinn that's beyond my - tha sin thar mo chomais, (ed) mixed
comasan measgaichte
abjectadj truagh, (more pej) suarach, - poverty bochdainn thruagh
able adj 1 (skilled, highly competent) comasach, an - man duine comasach,
1
