Focal an Lae #2

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The Word of the Day in Irish

Word: cara (KAH-ruh)

Meaning: cara = friend

Usage: Cara is seen regularly in the opening line of letters (including letters to the editor, etc., that are otherwise in English)

• Z, a chara = Dear Z (uh XAH-ruh; x = guttural in loch) (literally, “Z, o friend”)

History: Cara is derived from the Old Irish verb root “car-”, to love, and originally meant “(one who) loves”. It may come from the Indo-European root *ka- (to like, desire), which would make it a distant relative of such words as “caress”, “charity” and “whore”.

Scots Gaelic: caraid (KAH-rich), a charaid (uh XAH-rich); but beware! Traditional Scottish (but not Irish) usage requires the forms banacharaid, a bhanacharaid (uh VAH-nuh-xah-rich) when your friend is female, although just plain caraid is now becoming more common for women as well as men.