ceolmhar

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish ceólmar. By surface analysis, ceol (“music”) +‎ -mhar (adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈcoːl̪ˠvˠəɾˠ/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈcoːl̪ˠwəɾˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈcɔːl̪ˠwəɾˠ/

Adjective

ceolmhar (genitive singular masculine ceolmhair, genitive singular feminine ceolmhaire, plural ceolmhara, comparative ceolmhaire)

1. musical, tuneful
2. animated, vigorous

Declension

Declension of ceolmhar

	Singular		Plural (m/f)
Positive	Masculine	Feminine	(strong noun)	(weak noun)
Nominative	ceolmhar	cheolmhar	ceolmhara; cheolmhara²
Vocative	cheolmhair		ceolmhara
Genitive		ceolmhaire	ceolmhara	ceolmhar
Dative	ceolmhar; cheolmhar¹	cheolmhar; cheolmhair (archaic)	ceolmhara; cheolmhara²
Comparative	níos ceolmhaire
Superlative	is ceolmhaire

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

• ceolmhaire f (“tunefulness”)
• ceolmhaireacht f (“tunefulness”)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
ceolmhar	cheolmhar	gceolmhar
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “ceolmhar”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “ceolmhar”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ceolmhar”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN