caile

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish caile (“serving-girl, maid”).

Noun

caile m or f (genitive singular caile, nominative plural cailí)

1. girl, wench

Declension

Masculine

Declension of caile (fourth declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative caile cailí vocative a chaile a chailí genitive caile cailí dative caile cailí forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an caile na cailí genitive an chaile na gcailí dative leis an gcaile don chaile leis na cailí

Feminine

Declension of caile (fourth declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative caile cailí vocative a chaile a chailí genitive caile cailí dative caile cailí forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an chaile na cailí genitive na caile na gcailí dative leis an gcaile don chaile leis na cailí

Derived terms

• caile daibhche (“washerwoman”)
• cailín

Mutation

Mutated forms of caile

radical	lenition	eclipsis
caile	chaile	gcaile

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) “caile”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 caile”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• “caile”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

Old Irish

Etymology

Possibly related to Breton plac'h (“girl”) which cognates with Latin paelex (“concubine”), Ancient Greek παλλακή (pallakḗ, “young girl”).

Noun

caile ? (genitive caile)

1. serving-girl, maid (sometimes pejorative)
   • c. 1050 Táin Bó Cúailnge, from the Book of Leinster, published in Táin Bó Cualnge from the Book of Leinster (1970, Dublin), edited and with translations by Cecile O'Rahilly, TBC-LL 1690

     ‘Cid ra mer in cali ⁊ in banaccaid?’ bar Fergus.

     ‘What has crazed the girl and peasant-woman?’ said Fergus.

Inflection

Accusative form in caili attested in the Middle Irish Book of Leinster manuscript points to feminine iā-stem declension but it might be just a late spelling of in caile. Classical Gaelic grammatical tracts list it among masculine nouns and genitive an chaile in bardic poetry points to masculine gender. In Modern Irish it appears both as a masculine and a feminine noun.

The declension table below assumes the accusative in caili from The Book of Leinster is correct for Old Irish.

Feminine iā-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	caileL	cailiL	caili
Vocative	caileL	cailiL	caili
Accusative	cailiN	cailiL	caili
Genitive	caile	caileL	caileN
Dative	cailiL	cailib	cailib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Middle Irish: caile
  • Irish: caile
  • Scottish Gaelic: caile

Mutation

Mutation of caile

radical	lenition	nasalization
caile	chaile	caile pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/

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

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 caile”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology 1

From Old Irish caile (“serving-girl, maid”); compare Breton plac’h (“girl”); Ancient Greek παλλακή (pallakḗ, “concubine”), Latin pellex.

Noun

caile f (genitive singular caile, plural cailean)

1. vulgar girl, quean, hussy
2. strumpet
3. (Argyll, Perthshire) any young girl
4. maidservant who does more or less other work than housework

   Synonym: caile-shearbhanta

Derived terms

• caile-bhalach (“romp, tomboy”)
• caile-circein (“shuttlecock”)
• caileag (“young girl”)
• (poetic) cailin (“maiden, young woman”)

 

Related terms

• ainnir
• gruagach
• maighdeann
• nighean
• òigh
• rìbhinn

 

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

caile f

1. capacity

Mutation

Mutation of caile

radical	lenition
caile	chaile

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) “caile”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[2], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 caile”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language