cumachtae

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• cumacte

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *komonxtyom (compare Welsh cyfoeth), from the root of *annketi (compare con·icc (“to be able”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkuβ̃axtɘ]

Noun

cumachtae n

1. power, strength, might

Declension

Neuter io-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	cumachtaeN	—	—
Vocative	cumachtaeN	—	—
Accusative	cumachtaeN	—	—
Genitive	cumachtaiL	—	—
Dative	cumachtuL	—	—
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Quotations

• c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 22^c10

  Is bés trá dosom aní-siu cosc inna mban i tossug et a tabairt fo chumacte a feir, armbat irlamu de ind ḟir fo chumacte Dǽi, co·mbí íarum coscitir ind ḟir et do·airbertar fo réir Dǽ.

  This, then, is a custom of his, to correct the wives at first and to bring them under the power of their husbands, so that the husbands may be the readier under God’s power, so that afterwards the husbands are corrected and bowed down in subjection to God.

• c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 59^c3

  Is ed con·aitecht tantum dílgud a pecthae ṅdó hó Día, ⁊ ní comtacht cumachtae ṅdíglae fora náimtea.

  That is, he asked only for forgiveness of his sins to him by God, and he did not ask for power of vengeance on his enemies.

• c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 111^c13

  Is hé ru·fiastar cumachtae inna díglae do·mbi{u}r-siu húa londas, intí du·écigi{gi} is ar trócairi ⁊ censi du·bir-siu forunni siu innahí fo·daimem ré techt innúnn.

  He who will know the power of the punishment which you sg inflict out of wrath, it is he who will see that it is for the sake of mercy and gentleness that you inflict on us here the things that we suffer before going there.

Derived terms

• cumachtach

Descendants

• Irish: cumhacht
• Manx: cummaght

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
cumachtae	chumachtae	cumachtae pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “cumachtae”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language