cúl

See also: cul, cùl, cûl, and cúl-

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish cúl, cognate with Latin cūlus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kuːlˠ/

Noun

cúl m (genitive singular cúil, nominative plural cúil)

1. behind
2. back
3. (sports) goal

   Synonym: báire

   1. (score gained)
   2. (target area)

      Synonym: góraí

4. tail

Declension

Declension of cúl

First declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative cúl cúil Vocative a chúil a chúla Genitive cúil cúl Dative cúl cúil

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an cúl na cúil Genitive an chúil na gcúl Dative leis an gcúl don chúl leis na cúil

• Alternative plural: cúla (used in certain phrases)

Derived terms

• ar chúl, ar chúla (“behind”)
• ar gcúl (“backwards, behind”)
• cluiche a chur as cúl doirn (“to jink, win every trick in game”)
• cúl báire (“goalie”)
• cúl le faobhar (“out of the way, remote, secluded”)
• cúl-líne, líne chúil (“goal line”)
• cúlaí, fear cúil (“back”) (player)
• cúlchlár (“backboard”)
• cúlfhuinneog, fuinneog chúil (“rear window”)
• cúlghabhálach (“retroactive; retrospective”)
• cúlghabhálacht (“retroactivity”)
• cúlionad (“background”)
• cúlphlaic (“occiput”)
• cúlsráid (“back street”)
• cúltreoir (“backsight”)
• garraí cúil (“back garden”)
• nóta cúil (“endnote”)
• poc cúil (“puckout”)

 

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
cúl	chúl	gcúl
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

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

---

Old Irish

Etymology

Cognate with Latin cūlus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kuːl/

Noun

cúl m (genitive cúil, nominative plural cúil)

1. back
2. rear

Inflection

Masculine o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative
Vocative
Accusative
Genitive
Dative
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: cúl
• Manx: cooyl
• Scottish Gaelic: cùl

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
cúl	chúl	cúl pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/
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), “cúl”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language