Focal an Lae #186
The Word of the Day in Irish
Word: scian (SHKEE-uhn) [s′k′iːən]
Meaning: scian = knife
Usage:
- scian phóca (... FOH-kuh) [... foːkə] = pocket knife
- scian feola (... FYOH-luh) [... f′oːlə] = carving knife (lit., knife of-meat)
- Chuaigh sé faoi scian inné. (KHOO-uh shay fwee SHKEE-uhn uhn-YAY) [xuə s′eː fiː s′k′iːən ən′eː]
= He had an operation yesterday. (lit., went he under knife yesterday)
History: Old Irish “scían” comes from Indo-European *skiy-enā (cutter), the suffixed zero grade of *skei- (to cut, split, separate),
which is an extension of the root *sek- (to cut).
Cognates in English include “schism” (from Greek “skhizein”, to split), “science” (from Latin “sciere”, to know <- to separate one thing from another)
and “shit” (from Old English “scītan”, to defecate <- to separate it from your body).
Scottish Gaelic: sgian