Words from Irish
3 words in Curio passed through Irish on their way into English.
About Irish
Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, within the Indo-European family · spoken today
Where
Island of Ireland → carried to Scotland, the Isle of Man, Canada and Newfoundland
When
Speakers
1M
as of 2012
Speakers, Wikidata figure for 2012
Family path
- Irish
- English
Where it came from
Irish is a Celtic language of the Indo-European family, native to the Irish people and indigenous to the island of Ireland. Its earliest writing system, Ogham, dates back to at least the 4th century AD, and Latin script gradually replaced it from the 5th century. Irish speakers took the language to Scotland and the Isle of Man, where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx.
Source: Wikipedia
The words, A to Z
- banshee
A wailing spirit that got its name from where it was believed to live, not what it did.
- hooligan
Behind this word for a rowdy troublemaker may lurk a whole Irish family name.
- leprechaun
This tiny mischief-maker's name may actually trace back to a body of priests, not a body at all.