Irish

Noun

cathair f ‎(genitive singular cathrach, nominative plural cathracha)

1. city
2. circular stone fort

Declension

Derived terms

Mutation

References

• “1 cathair” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
• “caṫair” in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, Irish Texts Society, 1927, by Patrick S. Dinneen.
• "cathair" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• caithir
• cathir

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *katrixs ‎(“fortification”); possibly cognate with Old English hēaþor ‎(“enclosure, prison”) or Serbo-Croatian kȍtar ‎(“administrative unit, province”).^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaθirʲ/

Noun

cathair f ‎(genitive cathrach, nominative plural cathraig)

1. stone enclosure, fortress, castle; dwelling
2. monastic settlement, enclosure; monastery, convent
   • c. 800, Broccán’s Hymn, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. II, p. 328, ll. 9–10:

     Nī bo fri óigthea acher   cāinbói fri lobru trúagu:
     for maig arutacht cathir   dollaid rosnāde slúagu.

     She was not harsh to guests: gentle was she to the wretched sick:
     on a plain she built a convent: may it protect hosts into the Kingdom!

3. fortified city, city
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 13^b1:

     (do·adb)adar in taidbsiu hi siu tra do(naib) coic cetaib […] ro·bói isin chaithir isind aimsir sin

     this appearance, then, is manifested to the five hundred […] that was in the city at that time

Declension

Descendants

• Irish: cathair
• Manx: caayr
• Scottish Gaelic: cathair

Mutation

References

1. ↑ Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, ISBN 978-90-04-17336-1, page 194

• “1 cathair” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology 1

From Old Irish cathaír ‎(“chair”), from Latin cathēdra, from Ancient Greek καθέδρα ‎(kathédra). Cognate with Irish cathaoir.

Noun

cathair f ‎(genitive singular cathrach, plural cathraichean)

1. chair, seat, bench, throne

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Irish cathair.

Noun

cathair f ‎(genitive singular cathrach, plural cathraichean)

1. town, city

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Noun

cathair f ‎(genitive singular cathrach, plural cathraichean)

1. gig (two wheeled horse drawn carriage)
2. bed (of any garden stuff)
3. stock, colewort, cabbage
4. plot (of land)
5. (obsolete) guard, sentinel, warder

References

• Faclair Gàidhlig Dwelly Air Loidhne, Dwelly, Edward (1911), Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary (10th ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, ISBN 0 901771 92 9
• “cathaír” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
• “1 cathair” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.