Etymograph

English

Irish

Irish comes from Old English Īras ‘Irishmen’.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150Īras‘Irishmen’
  2. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150*Īrisċreconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Irish
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1834same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150Īras‘Irishmen’
  2. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150*Īrisċreconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Irish
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1834same form

Earliest quotation: 1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett: “But her Irish was up too high to do…”

The story

From Middle English Irish (12th c.), from Old English *Īrisċ, from Old English Īras (‘Irishmen’), from Old Norse Írar, from Old Irish Ériu (modern Irish Éire (‘Ireland’)), further origin heavily debated but probably from Proto-Celtic *Φīweriyū (‘fat land, fertile’), from Proto-Indo-European *péyh₂wr̥ (‘fat, swelling’), from *peyh₂- (‘to swell; to be fat’), akin to Ancient Greek πῑ́ειρα (pī́eira, “fertile land”), Sanskrit पीव॑री (pī́varī, “fat”).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.

Every English word from Old English Īras

Today it means

name The Gaelic language indigenous to Ireland, also known as Irish Gaelic.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old English Īras / Irish

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