banshee
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Irish bean sí, from Old Irish ben síde (“woman of the fairy mound”). The term banshee entered English in 1771.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
banshee (plural banshees)
- In Irish folklore, a female spirit, usually taking the form of a woman whose mournful wailing warns of an impending death. Originally a fairy woman singing a caoineadh (lament) for recently-deceased members of the O’Grady, the O’Neill, the O’Brien, the O’Connor, and the Kavanagh families, translations into English made a distinction between the banshee and other fairy folk that the original language and original stories do not seem to have, and thus the current image of the banshee.
[edit] Translations
in Irish folklore, a female spirit
