blàth

See also: blað, blaþ, and bláth

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pl̪ˠaː/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish bláth, from Proto-Celtic *blātus, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”).

Noun

blàth m (genitive singular blàith, plural blàthan)

1. blossom, bloom, flower

   Nach eil blàthan na siris dìreach àlainn? ― Aren't the cherry blossoms just lovely?

2. consequence, effect
3. heyday

Synonyms

• dìthean
• flùr

Etymology 2

From Old Irish bláith (“soft, smooth”) from earlier mláith, from Proto-Celtic *mlātis (“soft, tender”), *mlātos (“flour”), related to *meleti (“to grind, crush”). Originally meant "ground soft". Cognate with Welsh blawd (“flour, meal”).

Adjective

blàth (genitive singular masculine blàith, genitive singular feminine blàithe, nominative plural blàtha, comparative blàithe)

1. warm

   Tha am bùrn blàth.

   The water is warm.

2. affectionate, tender, kind

Declension

Case	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Plural
Nominative	blàth	bhlàth	blàtha
Vocative	bhlàith	bhlàith	blàtha
Genitive	bhlàith	bhlàith/blàithe	blàtha
Dative	bhlàth	bhlàith	blàtha

Mutation

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

Further reading

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “blàth”, 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), “bláth”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language