cumasach

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish commusach (“able, capable, powerful”). By surface analysis, cumas (“power, capability, ability, capacity, potential, aptitude, competence, faculty”) +‎ -ach.

Adjective

cumasach (genitive singular masculine cumasaigh, genitive singular feminine cumasaí, plural cumasacha, comparative cumasaí)

1. capable, powerful

   Proverb: Is minic a rinne bromach gioblach capall cumasach. ― Many a ragged colt made a noble horse.

2. (used as intensifying adjective) powerfully, extremely

Declension

Declension of cumasach

	Singular		Plural (m/f)
Positive	Masculine	Feminine	(strong noun)	(weak noun)
Nominative	cumasach	chumasach	cumasacha; chumasacha²
Vocative	chumasaigh		cumasacha
Genitive		cumasaí	cumasacha	cumasach
Dative	cumasach; chumasach¹	chumasach; chumasaigh (archaic)	cumasacha; chumasacha²
Comparative	níos cumasaí
Superlative	is cumasaí

¹ When the preceding noun is lenited and governed by the definite article.
² When the preceding noun ends in a slender consonant.

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
cumasach	chumasach	gcumasach
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “cumasach”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “cumasach”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “cumasach”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “commusach”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language