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Definition 2024

See also: fainne and fàinne

fáinne

fáinne m ‎(genitive singular fáinne, nominative plural fáinní)

Declension of fáinne

Fourth declension

Bare forms

Terms derived from fáinne

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
fáinne	fháinne	bhfáinne
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

From Old Irish áinne, from Proto-Celtic *ānniyos ‎(“ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eh₂n- ‎(“ring”). Possibly cognate with Latin ānus and Old Armenian անուր ‎(anur). The initial f comes from a reinterpretation of áinne as fháinne in leniting environments, leading to fáinne as a back-formation in nonleniting environments. Compare Scottish Gaelic fàinne.