Sasanach

See also: sasanach

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish Saxanach. By surface analysis, Sasana (“England”) +‎ -ach; derived from the Irish word meaning "Saxon" (compare Welsh Saesneg). Doublet of Sacsanach.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈsˠɑsˠən̪ˠəx/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈsˠasˠənˠəx/, /ˈsˠasˠən̪ˠəx/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈsˠasˠənˠa(x)/, /ˈsˠasˠən̪ˠa(x)/

Noun

Sasanach m (genitive singular Sasanaigh, nominative plural Sasanaigh)

1. Englishman, Englishwoman
2. (historical, familiar) Protestant

Declension

Declension of Sasanach (first declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative Sasanach Sasanaigh vocative a Shasanaigh a Shasanacha genitive Sasanaigh Sasanach dative Sasanach Sasanaigh Sasanachaibh (archaic) forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an Sasanach na Sasanaigh genitive an tSasanaigh na Sasanach dative leis an Sasanach don Sasanach leis na Sasanaigh

Adjective

Sasanach (genitive singular masculine Sasanaigh, genitive singular feminine Sasanaí, plural Sasanacha, not comparable)

1. English

Declension

Declension of Sasanach

Positive	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	strong noun	weak noun
nominative	Sasanach	Shasanach	Sasanacha; Shasanacha2
vocative	Shasanaigh		Sasanacha
genitive		Sasanaí	Sasanacha	Sasanach
dative	Sasanach; Shasanach1	Shasanach; Shasanaigh (archaic)	Sasanacha; Shasanacha2
Comparative	(not comparable)
Superlative	(not comparable)

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

Derived terms

• corn Sasanach (“cor anglais, English horn”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of Sasanach

radical	lenition	eclipsis
Sasanach	Shasanach after an, tSasanach	not applicable

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “Sasanach”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “Saxanach”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “Sasanach”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “Sasanach”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025