Dictionary of Druidism

[Kelyla na Fili]

An extensive dictionary on Irish Druidism and related terms.


Foclóir Draíochta - Dictionary of Druidism V.2
by Seán Ó Tuathail
Copyright © 1993 John Kellnhauser/Cainteanna na Luise
May be reposted as long as the above attribution and copyright notice are retained

Plurals follow nouns in ()s

[Kelyla na Fili]

A
A ( aw ) ............................................. v áirne.
abhainn - river.
ábhar (ábhair) - student, subject, potential quality, fair portion.
abú - interjection following proper name, loosely "hail forever".
achar feadha's feadh achair - (untranslatable: "duration/area of distance /duration and/is extent of extent" etc) - premise
that 1) "time" is a "field" like space, not a "flow"; 2) distance and duration interact; 3) both time and space are "subjective".
ádh - "good luck" as either good dán or as indicated by líth.
adhann - coltsfoot (v sponc).
ádhmharaighe - lit. "lucky injury", paradoxical serendepity, i.e. the wrong thing at the right time, something wherein an error produces a result better than planned, 7rl.
áer - v aoir.
aerach - gay (in both "happy" and "homosexual" senses).
aes dána - poets, harpers, artists as a social privileged class.
ag tosú - at (the) beginning.
Agallamh - 1) dialogue; 2) v Acallam na Seanórach, a seanchas.
agus araile (written "7rl") - et cetera.
aided - death tale, a major type of seanchas (v oidhe).
aigne - nind, basic dispositions, emotional outlook, basic inclinations (cf aireachtail. ciall, cuihmne, dúil, éirim, inchinn, intinn, meabhair, meanma, meon, mothú, smaoineamh, toil).
ail anscuichthe - "immovable (large) stone", validating testimony from a non-plant/animal/person.
áilgeis - poet's right of (esp. derogatory or egotistical) demand (which must be granted as the force of geis).
aill - cliff.
ailt - cliff bordered ravine.
aimhleas - harmful path in life.
aíocht - hospitality as a duty.
airbhe - an encircling "hedge" which protects those inside and may be crossed but with il-effect on whom does so.
aircheadal - set-piece poetry or chant.
aireachtail - perception, sense (both physical and 6th), cf aigne 7rl.
áireán - being nocturnal, night vigil, vsiting at night.
airgead - 1) silver; 2) modern word for money.
airmert - 1) preparation, equipment; 2) effort; 3) prohibative bríocht (not as strong as geis.
áirne - blackthorn, fiodh for letter A, associated with, among other things, quarrel, vigil.
aisling (-í) - dream/trance vision much stronger more lucid than taibhreamh.
aiteacht - sensation of thing or place being "not quite right" but not being able to tell why.
aiteann - horse.
Aithirne - Ulster druid known for áilgeasa.
aithriocht - shape-shifting, actual not mealladh (v athdholb).
aitire - hostage surety.
Albu - 1) ársa: all of Britain; 2) modcern [Alba]: Scotland.
Almu - dún of the fianna in n. Co. Kildare (cf Dún Aillinne).
altramas - fosterage between generations more important tnan blood-ties.
amadán - fool (esp. one with briotais of getting others in trouble).
amhailt - 1) threatening phantom; 2) fomothú, etc., of threat.
amhainseacht - paleo-shamanism, seizure trance.
Amhairghin Glúingeal - first and greatest mortal poet-druid who challenged the Tuatha Dé Danann and called forth Ireland from behind the mists of invisibility; his name means: "Birth of Song, of the Bright Knees [= Generations]"; variant spellings include Aimhirgin, usually rendered in english as "Amergin" (v Duan Amhairghine).
Amhairghin mac Eicet - Ulster poet-druid.
amhlaidh - thus, used as "go raibh amhlaaidh", "so be it", but not as a wish for something to occur but that the requirements have already been met and said conditions should continue as they are now (as mallacht it means "may you be stuck with this forever").
amhra - wonder, marvel, nobility, charm.
amhrán - song.
amú - 1) wasted, in vain; 2) astrray (as from Sídhe).
anáil - 1) breath; 2) strength; 3) (esp. verbal) influence.
anam - soul (probably a loan-word, v bradán, brí).
anamimirce - transmigration of soul.
anfa - tempest, storm (used of magic instead of the borrowed "stoirm").
ánradh - 6th (from bottom up) rank poet.
ánruth v ánradh.
aoir - bríocht satire, usually mallacht.
aonarán - hermit, recluse (cf díthreabach).
aor - v aoir.
aosán - neach Sídhe of il-intent.
árach - 1) bond, security, linkage; 2) opening advantage, favorable opportunity; 3) "offer", solicitation to act a certain way to gain bua, v caoi.
ard - high (often prefixed).
ard-draoi - arch-druid (a social position).
ardartha - salute to only extremely high authority, fists to forehead.
ardfhile - high-poet, a social position.
ardrí - high-king.
ardtiarna - high lord, one of the ranking leaders, master adepts, etc., of the Tuatha Dé Danann or any neach Sídhe of equivelent nature (never used for any mortal).
arracht (-aí) - spectre, monster, 7rl (loose term, real or illusion).
ársa - ancient, archaic.
ársachumadh - deliberate anacharicism or archaicization in seanchais.
asarlaí - occultist, ritual magician.
asarlaíocht - occultism, hermetics, ritual magic (cf piseogacht).
ascalt - 1) lack of food; 2) lower level of bua than required for a specific working.
astaidhbhreacht - "reading" (in the clairoyant sense of an object).
athair thalún - yarrow.
athdholb - shape-shifted form.
athgabháil - allowable reprisal.
athionchollú - reincarnation (not a regular feature of draíocht).
athmhothú - (act of switching) alternative states of consciousness.
athshocrú - alternate arrangement (during smhoill, etc.)
audacht - (text) of learned reportage and advice (modern Irish "uacht" is "will, testament").

[Kelyla na Fili]

B
B ( bay ) ............................................ v beith.
badbh - 1) carrion-crow; 2) neach Sídhe of battle.
bagair - threathen, beckon toward, chase away, threaten.
bail - prosperity, validity.
bain - extract, release, agitate, win, evoke, gain, begin, induce, remove, obtain, deprive, interfer with, stay, appease, control, relate.
baint - v bain.
baisleac - wisewoman, female folk-wizard, woman upthóg.
bán - white, associated with emptiness, weakness (cf geal).
Banda - an alternate name for Ireland.
bándhraíocht - "white druidism", i.e. fake druidism drained dry of genuine elements, or diluted of difficulty to be popular.
bard (baird) -low class [non-druid] songster.
bás - death (considered part of dán).
Beag mac Deadh - druid of Diarmaid mac Cearbhaill (qv).
béalaíocht - oral tradition (in general).
béalaithris - oral tradition, oral account.
Bealtaine - quarter day beginning sunset 30th April, day of arrival of both mortals and TDD in Ireland.
beannacht (-aí) - 1) with ar (beannacht ort): blessing; 2) with do (beannacht duit): greetings; (the word is, based on the double-n, not a Latin loan, but from "beann", "antler").
Beannú na déithe's n'aindhéithe ort - "The blessings of the gods and the non-gods upon you".
béarla - 1) english language (cf sasanaigh); 2) jargon, cant.
beathnua - St John's wort.
beirbhéine - vervain.
beith - birch, fiodh for the letter B, associated with, among other things, beginning, cleansing.
beo - person's life, physical incarnation.
beo fada is bás in Éirinn - "Long life and may you die in Ireland!"
biáidh - blessing.
bile (bilí) - any large, isolated sacred tree.
bís - spiral.
bliáin is lá - "a year and a day", a full 364-day solar cycle, Samhain, not part of the year proper, being the extra day.
bó - cow, asssocaited with prosperity and female beauty.
bobcheist - trick question.
bochtóg - neach Sídhe associated with sea.
bodhrán - 1) deaf person; 2) native Irish tambourine-like drum.
bolg gréine - "sun bubble", magical growth on plants conferring insight when eaten.
bolg is buinní - "bag and pipes" (píb uilleann, "Uillean pipes" is a modern borrowing, as is the instrument, but this term exists from pre-christian sourses, indicating an earlier form).
bonn (boinn) - sole (of foot), foothold, standing (in rank), foundation, footprint, spoor, coin, token, metal.
bradán - 1) salmon (v eo fis); 2) life principle of individual.
bran - raven.
branán - raven.
brandubh - board game, apparently simpler than fidcheall and/or involving lots.
brat (brait) - cloak, for a druid always without hood, multi-coloured.
breac - speckled, symbolizing magical power (either brí or bua).
breachsholas - twilight, the time of most powerful brí.
breachtraíocht - (general term) magic (esp. folk-, herbal.
breactradh - (general term) magic, charms, 7rl.
breitheamh - brehon.
breithiúnais - Brehon Laws.
brí - inherent/intrensic personal power set by dán (lit. essence, vigour, significance), cannot be won or gained, only developed or allowed to atrope; cf bua.
briathar - verb, word.
bríathar - word, adage.
briatharchath - egotistical laochas-like boast-speech before battle.
brigh - v brí.
bríocht (-aí) - spell, largely or fully verbal (the modern form of the word is spelt, and pronounced, with a short "i", briocht).
briocht - v bríocht.
brionglóid - dream (general term).
briotais - inherent talent (in a specific thing).
brosna (-í) - withered branch ordead wood gathered by hand (i.e. not requiring permission of the tree or ritual).
brú - hostel, Sídhe-hill, esp. the latter (cf bruíon).
Brú na Bhóinne - Newgrange.
bruane - fire-seed, embers from which other fires are lit.
brugh - v brú.
bruidhean - v bruíon.
bruigh - v brú.
bruíon - hostel, Sídhe-hill, esp. the former (cf brú).
brúthaoscadh - to drain pressure, loosen tightenness, psychically.
bua - 1) gained or attained personal power, esp. in a given area (cf brí); 2) [usually as plural buatha:] actions which win or maintain bua v tairbhe); (lit. victory, merit, talent).
buachaitheamh - to "flare power", neutral samhlchaitheamh.
buachloch - power-object.
búad - v bua.
buannaíocht - 1) boldness, presumption; 2) having or using briotais.
buas - 1) spring (water); 2) wealth (specifically one's "store" of bua, but also of gold, property, etc).
buí - yellow, associated with thanksgiving and praise.
bunchur - "let this happen" part of bríocht.

[Kelyla Blankenship-Spicer]

C ( kay ) ............................................ v coll.
caerthann - v caorthann.
cailleach - 1) hag (esp. as aithriocht of neach Sídhe); 2) precocious young girl.
cáin - offical law, tax to rulers (as opposed to tradition or éiric).
caint (-eanna) - speech, avility to talk, discourse.
cáinte - (esp. unjust) satirist.
caitheamh - cast(ing) fiodhrádhm coins, etc. (lit. wear, use, consumption, 7rl).
cana - 1) cub, 2) 4th (from bottom up) rank poet.
caoi - 1) way, path, manner; 2) opportunity; 3) proper condition; 4) thing solicited by árach.
caoilíth - omen that what has been said or done is correct (cf líth, iúl, taispeáadh).
caoimneadh - keen, lament for dead.
caor (-a) - berry, associated with health.
caorthann - common name for luis.
caorthann curraigh - valerian.
cas - turn, wind, sing, return, reproach, attempt, meet.
cath - battle.
cathais - vigil.
Cathbhadh - ard-draoi of Ulster, responsible for the curse on Emhain Macha, bound whern he was lied to by the king.
céadfa (-í) - bodily sense (or one of normal 5), normal perception/conception.
céalmhaire - omen.
cearc - hen.
ceard - craft, skill, art.
ceart tar críoch (also cert tar crích) - right of poets to cross all political borders with safety.
ceas - 1) surfeit, excess; 2) woe, grief, debility, esp. long-lasting or repetititve, esp. as result of mallacht.
céile - companion, spouse.
céim - 1) step, rank; 2) pass (in mountains), ravine.
ceo - 1) fog, mist; 2) anything, nothing.
ceobhrán - haze, light mist.
ceol - music.
Cesair - v Lebor Gabála.
ciall - sense. sanity, normal or habitual state of mind, faculty of logic, meaning; (cf aigne 7rl).
ciapóg - (magically induced) confusion or delusion.
cinnbheart - head-dress, esp. feathered.
cinniúint - 1) fate (general term, cf dán); 2) misfortune, tagedy.
cinnte - certainly, surely.
cion - 1) share, amount; 2) love, esteem; 3) offence, crime, blame.
Cithruad - ard-draoi ríogaí of king Cormac who lost to Mogh Roith (qv).
ciúta (-í) - 1) quip; 2) flourish; 3) trick; 4) "extra decoration", stylistic addition in bríocht with no bua itself but used to help make it unique.
claenmhíl - family totem.
nascmhíl - animal to which a person's life is linked.
beirmhíl - personal totem involving taking of name and geis against killing (additional) memebers of species.
Claíomh Solais - Sword of Light.
cláirseach - large (modern) harp, not a druid harp.
clann - children, family, race, followers.
clárú - 1) tablulation, listing (of kings, attributes, 7rl); 2) to beat, flatten, 7rl; 3) slang: fuck; 4) modern: to programme a computer.
clé - left (hand).
cleachtadh (-aí) - 1) lesson; practice; 2) habitual wont; 3) practical experience.
cleas - feat of prowess, "trick" (but not with the idea of skill, not cheating).
cleathainsí (pl.) - paraphernalia, odds and ends, personal belongings, (esp. minor) props and aids to magic.
clí - 5th (from bottom up) rank poet.
cliatha fis - "wattles of knowledge", wicker (esp. rowan) lattice sleeping-bag used for divination.
cloch - stone (general term).
cloch iompaithe - turning stone. used esp. for mallacht.
clog - 1) bell; 2) clock; 3) skin-blister.
clós - henge, enclosure.
clú - honour, fame (informal, cf eineach).
clúmh - feathers, down, body-hair, fur.
cnáib - hemp, cannabis.
cnó (-nna) - nut, associated with wisdom.
cnoc (cnoic) - hill.
cnúdánaí - 1) purring cat; 2) wheedler, pleasant hoaxer; 3) wannabe (person who likes druidism superficially but wants easy lessons).
cochall - cowl, cloak with hood, a non-druid cloak.
coill - woods, forest.
Coire Dagdae - Ever-full cauldron of plenty.
coire éirme - cauldron of warming, loweest of 3 coirí filíochta (qv).
coire fhís - cauldron of knowledge, highest of 3 coirí filíochta (qv).
coire goir - cauldron of motion, middle of 3 coirí filíochta (qv).
coirí filíochta (pl) - 3 "cauldrons of poetry" within the poet/person, similar but not identical to kundalini chakras; each has 3 attitudes, giving 9 situational elements (qv naoi) and 7 states of the poet (qv seacht).
cóiriú - arranging (esp. the details), used of tuning a harp or "fiddling" with a bríocht with or without somhoill.
coisc - v cosc.
coitiantacht - 1) [without qualifying adjective:] the consensus commonality view of the world; 2) [with adjective] (esp, agreed upon or experienced in common) way of life and view of the world.
coll - Hazel, fiodh of the letter C (always pronounced as "k"), associated with, among other things, poetry and the wilds; explicited stated as tree most favoured by Tuatha Dé Danann.
Colmchille - druid-trained greatest native Irish christian saint.
comhaltas - joint fosterage (modern word has many meanings).
comhartha - symbol, signal, gesture, token, sign, symptom.
comhartha beann - sign of horns made with hand as protective gesture.
comhfhearann - common ownership of land.
cómhla (esp. cómhla breac) - gate (esp. to Otherworld).
comhnasc - joint linkage, binding two or more things equally together, with or without sárlán.
comhtharlú - coincidence, esp. simultaneous (cf comhtheangmhas).
comhtheaghmas (rud) - conjuncture of things, entities in relationships.
comhtheagmhas - coincidence, serial, across time/space (cf comhtharlú).
comóradh - assembly, celebration, accompaniment.
cóngar - 1) proximity, vicinity; 2) convenient equipment, means/tools ready to hand (cf garmheas).
Conmaince Réin - mountain in Connacht, arrival site of Tuatha Dé Danann, identity uncertain, possibly Maol Réidh.
Connacht - Connacht.
contúirt - 1) doubt, danger; 2) place or interval of time (e.g. Samhain) of possible, not fated, danger; 3) a dangerous technique.
cor - turn, whirlwind, spinning-in-place, reel, pledge, exhausion, agreement.
corr - point, edge, hollow, pit, crane (bird), eel, odd (i.e. not even), curve.
corrbolg - "crane bag", magical treasure bag.
corrguineacht - "crane magic", bríocht, esp. mallacht, on one foot, one eye closed, one hand in belt.
cosc - defence, protection, prevention, restrain.
cráin - sow.
crainnchaint - communicating with live trees.
crann (crainn) - 1) tree ( v bile); the three most important trees are luis, iúr, and coll (qv); 2) pole, shaft, wooden frame, penis, full growth, best part, misfortune, attitude, important person, fate, tune, offer, 7rl.
crannchur - 1) ársa: casting of lots, not limited to fiodhrádh; 2) modern: lottery, sweepstake.
crannóg - artifical island dwelling.
cré-umha - bronze.
creadair - relic, power object.
creideamh - (esp. non-druid) belief, faith.
crios (-anna) - 1) (Irish woven) belt; 2) zone around a person, thing, place, under its influence; 3) encircling protective ward.
Cromm Croich - god of non-druid pagan religious cult in ancient Ireland.
Cromm Dubh - v Cromm Croich.
crot - v cruit.
Crúachán Aí - pagan socio-political capital of Connacht.
Cruachán Aigle - former pagan name of Cruach Pádraig.
cruit - the smaller, druidily proper, form of harp (whether the original druid cruit was harp- or lyre-like is disputed, but
the basic three-wood body and that Uaithne (qv) is also an old word for "pillar" would argue for a harp-like instrument.
cruitire - harper, i.e. a music-wizard, druid.
cruitt - v cruitire.
cruthú - to create and prove true, cf fíorú.
cú - hound.
Cú Roí (Cú Rói) - druid-king of Munster (only king of a province to be also a druid) whose totem was a salmon.
cuaifeach - whirlwind.
cuairt coimhgí - circle of safe-keepings.
cúig - five, number of general total, fullness, or completion (cf naoi).
cúige - lit. "fifth", province.
cuileann - common name of tinne.
cuir - bind, sow, bury, set, put, seek, consider, send, engage, take, give, provide, deprive, 7rl.
cumang - v cumhacht.
cumha - nostalgia, home-sickness, esp. for ideal, what one never knew one had until after one lost it.
cumhacht - power, authority, influence, 7rl.
cur - v cuir.
curadmhír - v laochmhír.