sáil

See also: sail, Sail, sàil, and saïl

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /sˠɑːlʲ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /sˠaːlʲ/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish sál.

Alternative forms

• sál

Noun

sáil f (genitive singular sáile, nominative plural sála)

1. (anatomy, of shoes) heel
2. (golf) heel of a club
3. heeltap (of liquor)

Declension

Declension of sáil (second declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative sáil sála vocative a sháil a shála genitive sáile sál dative sáil sála forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an tsáil na sála genitive na sáile na sál dative leis an tsáil don tsáil leis na sála

Derived terms

• preabán sáile (“heeltap”)
• sáil cíle (“heel (of ship's keel)”)
• sáil crainn (“heel of mast”)
• sáil sléibhe (“spur of mountain”)
• sáil stiúrach (“heel of rudder”)
• sáilchaite (“down at heel (of shoes)”)
• sála arda (“high heels”)
• sála fuiseoige (“larkspur”)

 

Etymology 2

See Middle Irish sádaile (“comfort, ease”)

Alternative forms

• sádhail (superseded)

Adjective

sáil (genitive singular masculine sáil, genitive singular feminine sáile, plural sáile, comparative sáile)

1. easy, restful, comfortable
2. fond of ease and comfort
3. self-indulgent, voluptuous

Declension

Declension of sáil

	singular		plural (m/f)
Positive	masculine	feminine	(strong noun)	(weak noun)
nominative	sáil	sháil	sáile; sháile2
vocative	sháil		sáile
genitive		sáile	sáile	sáil
dative	sáil; sháil1	sháil	sáile; sháile2
Comparative	níos sáile
Superlative	is sáile

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

Related terms

• sáile

Mutation

Mutated forms of sáil

radical	lenition	eclipsis
sáil	sháil after an, tsáil	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) “sáil”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 sál”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “sáil”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “sáil”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saːlʲ/

Noun

sáil

1. inflection of sál (“heel”):
   1. accusative and dative singular
   2. nominative and accusative and vocative dual

Mutation

Mutation of sáil

radical	lenition	nasalization
sáil	ṡáil	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.