taoiseach

See also: Taoiseach

English

Etymology

From Irish taoiseach, from Old Irish toísech, from Primitive Irish ᚈᚑᚃᚔᚄᚐᚉᚔ (tovisaci) (genitive), from Proto-Celtic *towissākos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtiːʃəx/, /ˈtiːʃək/

Noun

taoiseach (plural taoiseachs or taoisigh)

1. The head of the Irish government, comparable to a British or Australian Prime Minister.
   • 2019, Kevin Rawlinson, The Guardian, 1 August:

     Everyone in the UK and Ireland should be afraid of a no-deal Brexit, the Irish taoiseach said, after he was accused of engaging in “Project Fear mark two”.

Usage notes

• In English, when used as a title the word should always be capitalised.
• When describing the political position, the word is sometimes capitalised but lower case is typically used.

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Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish toísech (“leader”), from Primitive Irish ᚈᚑᚃᚔᚄᚐᚉᚔ (tovisaci, genitive), from Proto-Celtic *towissākos (“leader”) (compare Welsh tywysog (“prince”)), from either Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- (“lead”) or *weyd- (“know, see”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt̪ˠiːʃəx]
• IPA^(key): [ˈt̪ˠiːʃax], [ˈt̪ˠiːʃah]

• Taoiseach:

  (file)

Noun

taoiseach m (genitive singular taoisigh, nominative plural taoisigh)

1. chieftain, leader
2. Taoiseach, prime minister

Declension

Declension of taoiseach

First declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative taoiseach taoisigh Vocative a thaoisigh a thaoiseacha Genitive taoisigh taoiseach Dative taoiseach taoisigh

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an taoiseach na taoisigh Genitive an taoisigh na dtaoiseach Dative leis an taoiseach don taoiseach leis na taoisigh

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
taoiseach	thaoiseach	dtaoiseach
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

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Spanish

Noun

taoiseach m (plural taoiseachs)

1. taoiseach