Focal an Lae #365
The Word of the Day in Irish
Word: eireaball (EH-ruh-buhl) [er′əbəl]
Meaning: eireaball = tail, tailend
Usage:
- Tá eireaball álainn ar an bpéacóg. (TAW EH-ruh-buhl AW-leen ehr uh BAY-cohg) [taː er′əbəl aːlən′ er′ ə b′eːkoːg] = The peacock has a beautiful tail.
- eireaball an lae (EH-ruh-buhl uhn LAY) [er′əbəl ən leː] = the tailend of the day
History: Old Irish “erball” is explained in the “Sanas Cormaic”, a 10th
century compendium of Irish wordlore (much of it fanciful!) as “íar ball,
the final member of the animal”. Another etymology would explain the word
as a compound of Old Irish “err” (hindpart) and “ball” (member, limb).
“Err” comes from Indo-European *ors- (buttocks), and is cognate with
English “arse”. See
Focal #91 for “ball”.
Scottish Gaelic: earball