Focal an Lae #341
The Word of the Day in Irish
Word: méid (MAYJ) [m′eːd′]
Meaning: méid = magnitude, quantity, size
Usage:
- Níl an méid sin airgid agam. (NEEL uh MAYJ shin A-ruh-gihj AH-guhm) [n′iːl′ ə m′eːd′ s′in′ ær′əg′əd′ agəm]
= I don’t have that much money, that amount of money.
- Tá sí ag dul i méid. (TAW shee uh DUL uh MAYJ) [taː s′iː ə dul ə m′eːd′] = She is getting bigger. (lit., she is going in size)
- Sin an méid! (SHIN uh MAYJ) [s′in′ ə m′eːd′] = That’s all!
History: Old Irish “méit” (greatness, magnitude), Welsh “maint” (quantity, size) and Breton “ment” (size)
come from Common Celtic *mantī (bigness), from the Indo-European root *mē- (big).
English cognates include “more” and “most”. Irish “mór” (big) comes from the same IE root.
Scottish Gaelic: meud