beatha

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʲahə/

Etymology 1

From Middle Irish betha, from Old Irish bethu, from Proto-Celtic *biwotūts (compare Welsh bywyd), from *biwos from Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós (“alive”) (compare Latin vīta, Ancient Greek βίοτος (bíotos), Old Church Slavonic животъ (životŭ, “life”), Lithuanian gyvatà (“life”), Sanskrit जीवित (jīvitá), Avestan 𐬔𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬊 (gaiio, “life”) (accusative 𐬘𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬙𐬎𐬨 (jiiātum))), from *gʷeyh₃-w- (“to live”).

Noun

beatha f (genitive singular beatha or beathadh, nominative plural beathaí)

1. life; biography
2. living, livelihood
3. food, sustenance

Declension

Standard inflection (fourth declension)

Declension of beatha

Fourth declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative beatha beathaí Vocative a bheatha a bheathaí Genitive beatha beathaí Dative beatha beathaí

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an bheatha na beathaí Genitive na beatha na mbeathaí Dative leis an mbeatha don bheatha leis na beathaí

Alternative inflection (fifth declension)

Declension of beatha

Fifth declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative beatha beathaí Vocative a bheatha a bheathaí Genitive beathadh beathaí Dative beatha beathaidh (archaic, dialectal) beathaí

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an bheatha na beathaí Genitive na beathadh na mbeathaí Dative leis an mbeatha leis an mbeathaidh (archaic, dialectal) don bheatha don bheathaidh (archaic, dialectal) leis na beathaí

Derived terms

• antaibheathach, frithbheathach (“antibiotic”, adjective)
• antaibheathach m, frithbheathach m (“antibiotic”)
• beathachruth m (“life form”)
• beathaigh (“feed, nourish; rear”, transitive verb)
• beathaisnéis f (“biography”)
• beathúil (“nourishing”, adjective)
• dea-bheatha f (“good, virtuous, life; good sustenance”)
• fórsa na beatha m (“vital force”)
• uisce beatha m, beathuisce m (“whiskey”, literally “water of life”)

 

Related terms

• beo (“alive”)

Etymology 2

Noun

beatha m sg

1. genitive singular of bith

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
beatha	bheatha	mbeatha
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), “betha”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “beaṫa”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 63
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “beatha”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “beatha”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “beatha”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

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Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish betha, from Old Irish bethu, from Proto-Celtic *biwotūts, from *biwos from Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós (“alive”), from *gʷeih₃w- (“to live”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛhə/

Noun

beatha f (genitive singular beatha, plural beathannan)

1. life

Declension

Forms without/with the definite article:

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	beatha/a' bheatha	beathannan/na beathannan
Genitive	beatha/na beatha	bheatha/nam beatha
Dative	beatha/a' bheatha	na beathannan/na beathannan

Derived terms

• 's e do bheatha/ur beatha (“don't mention it”)
• beath-eachdraidh, eachdraidh-beatha (“biography”)
• beathach (“beast”)
• dà-bheathach (“amphibian”)
• dà-bheathach (“amphibious”)
• dòigh-beatha (“way of life”)
• fiadh-bheatha (“wildlife”)
• uisge-beatha (“whisky”)

 

Mutation

Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical	Lenition
beatha	bheatha
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “beatha”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[1], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “betha”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language