aillse

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Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish aillsiu (“cancer”).

Noun

aillse f (genitive singular aillse, nominative plural aillsí)

Obsolete spelling of ailse (“cancer”).

Noun

aillse

alternative genitive singular of aillis

Usage notes

A number of Irish dictionaries (beginning in the 1700s by confusing several different Irish and Scottish Gaelic words, and spreading by copying) listed "fairy" and "delay, heedlessness, neglect" as other meanings of this word, but they are ghost senses and do not exist.^[1]

Mutation

Mutated forms of *aillse*
radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
aillse	n-aillse	haillse	not applicable

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

References

^ an article in Scottish Gaelic Studies 3-4 (1929), page 54, says: "Aillse, "a fairy," appears first in Lhuyd (p. 426), who marks it as a Scottish word. The next lexicographer to include it was Shaw, who explains it as "a fairy, a diminutive creature." O'Reilly, as usual, took over the word from Shaw. Coneys copied O'Reilly, at the same time providing the word with a plural, aillseacha, and quoting the phrase, Ni lugha orm aillseacha ciaróg 'na thu. He thus mixed up two distinct words, the Scottish aillse, and the Irish aillseach, 'a chafer, ear-wig'."

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish aillsiu (“sore, tumour, abscess”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈaɪlʃʲə/

Noun

aillse f (genitive singular aillse)

Mutation

Mutation of *aillse*
radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
aillse	n-aillse	h-aillse	t-aillse

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) “aillse”, 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), “aillsiu”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

[1] rticle in Scottish Gaelic Studies 3-4 (1929), page 54, says: "Aillse, "a fairy," appears first in Lhuyd (p. 426), who marks it as a Scottish word. The next lexicographer to include it was Shaw, who explains it as "a fairy, a diminutive creature." O'Reilly, as usual, took over the word from Shaw. Coneys copied O'Reilly, at the same time providing the word with a plural, aillseacha, and quoting the phrase, Ni lugha orm aillseacha ciaróg 'na thu. He thus mixed up two distinct words, the Scottish aillse, and the Irish aillseach, 'a chafer, ear-wig'."

[1]