English
korrigan
Korrigan comes from Breton korr ‘dwarf’, and goes back to Proto-Celtic *korros.
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*korrosreconstructed
- Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*korr‘dwarf, pygmy, stunted individual’reconstructed
- Old Bretonmoderncorr
- xbmmodernsame form
- Bretonmodernkorr‘dwarf’
- Breton, derivedmodernkorrigan
- Englishearliest quotation 1850same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*korrosreconstructed
- Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*korr‘dwarf, pygmy, stunted individual’reconstructed
- Old Bretonmoderncorr
- xbmmodernsame form
- Bretonmodernkorr‘dwarf’
- Breton, derivedmodernkorrigan
- Englishearliest quotation 1850same form
Earliest quotation: 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “The Korrigan, our authority further states, can predict the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kert- ‘short’
Today it means
noun A long-haired nocturnal and often malevolent Breton fairy princess; such creatures considered collectively.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Celtic *korros / korrigan