dún

See also: Appendix:Variations of "dun"

Icelandic

Noun

dún

1. indefinite accusative singular of dúnn

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d̪ˠuːnˠ/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish dún, from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“stronghold”).

Noun

dún m (genitive singular dúin or dúna, nominative plural dúnta or dúna or dúinte)

1. fort; fortress
2. place of refuge, haven
3. (secure) residence, house
4. promontory fort; bluff

Declension

Declension of dún (first declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative dún dúnta vocative a dhúin a dhúnta genitive dúin dúnta dative dún dúnta forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an dún na dúnta genitive an dúin na ndúnta dative leis an dún don dún leis na dúnta

Alternative declension

Declension of dún (third declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative dún dúna vocative a dhún a dhúna genitive dúna dún dative dún dúna forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an dún na dúna genitive an dúna na ndún dative leis an dún don dún leis na dúna

Alternative plural: dúinte

Derived terms

• dún Dé (“God's house, heaven”)
• Dún Dealgan (“Dundalk”)
• Dún Éideann (“Edinburgh”)
• dún long (“haven for ships”)
• urdhún (“bastion”)

Etymology 2

From Old Irish dúnaid, dúinid (“shuts, closes; blocks, obstructs; joins, clasps; closes, ends”).

Verb

dún (present analytic dúnann, future analytic dúnfaidh, verbal noun dúnadh, past participle dúnta)

1. (ambitransitive) close, shut

   Synonyms: (Ulster) druid, iaigh

   Antonym: oscail

2. (ambitransitive) draw together; secure, fasten

Conjugation

Conjugation of dún (first conjugation – A)

indicative	singular			plural			direct relative	autonomous
	first	second	third	first	second	third
present	dúnaim	dúnann tú; dúnair†	dúnann sé, sí	dúnaimid; dúnann muid	dúnann sibh	dúnann siad; dúnaid†	a dhúnann; a dhúnas	dúntar
past	dhún mé; dhúnas	dhún tú; dhúnais	dhún sé, sí	dhúnamar; dhún muid	dhún sibh; dhúnabhair	dhún siad; dhúnadar	a dhún	dúnadh
past habitual	dhúnainn / dúnainn‡	dhúntá / dúntá‡	dhúnadh sé, sí / dúnadh sé, sí‡	dhúnaimis; dhúnadh muid / dúnaimis‡; dúnadh muid‡	dhúnadh sibh / dúnadh sibh‡	dhúnaidís; dhúnadh siad / dúnaidís‡; dúnadh siad‡	a dhúnadh	dhúntaí / dúntaí‡
	singular			plural			direct relative	autonomous
	first	second	third	first	second	third
future	dúnfaidh mé; dúnfad	dúnfaidh tú; dúnfair†	dúnfaidh sé, sí	dúnfaimid; dúnfaidh muid	dúnfaidh sibh	dúnfaidh siad; dúnfaid†	a dhúnfaidh; a dhúnfas	dúnfar
conditional	dhúnfainn / dúnfainn‡	dhúnfá / dúnfá‡	dhúnfadh sé, sí / dúnfadh sé, sí‡	dhúnfaimis; dhúnfadh muid / dúnfaimis‡; dúnfadh muid‡	dhúnfadh sibh / dúnfadh sibh‡	dhúnfaidís; dhúnfadh siad / dúnfaidís‡; dúnfadh siad‡	a dhúnfadh	dhúnfaí / dúnfaí‡
subjunctive	singular			plural			direct relative	autonomous
	first	second	third	first	second	third
present	go ndúna mé; go ndúnad†	go ndúna tú; go ndúnair†	go ndúna sé, sí	go ndúnaimid; go ndúna muid	go ndúna sibh	go ndúna siad; go ndúnaid†	—	go ndúntar
past	dá ndúnainn	dá ndúntá	dá ndúnadh sé, sí	dá ndúnaimis; dá ndúnadh muid	dá ndúnadh sibh	dá ndúnaidís; dá ndúnadh siad	—	dá ndúntaí
imperative	singular			plural			direct relative	autonomous
	first	second	third	first	second	third
—	dúnaim	dún	dúnadh sé, sí	dúnaimis	dúnaigí; dúnaidh†	dúnaidís	—	dúntar
past participle	dúnta
verbal noun	dúnadh

^† archaic or dialect form
^‡ dependent form

Alternative forms

• dúin (Cois Fharraige)

Mutation

Mutated forms of dún

radical	lenition	eclipsis
dún	dhún	ndún

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), “dún”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “dún”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “dúnaid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Finck, F. N. (1899), Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), Zweiter Band: Wörterbuch [Second volume: Dictionary], Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 73

Old Irish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“stronghold”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd̪uːn/

Noun

dún n (genitive dúin or dúine, nominative plural dúna or dúine)

1. fort
2. fortress

Inflection

Neuter o-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	dúnN	dúnN	dúnL, dúna
vocative	dúnN	dúnN	dúnL, dúna
accusative	dúnN	dúnN	dúnL, dúna
genitive	dúinL	dún	dúnN
dative	dúnL	dúnaib	dúnaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Neuter s-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	dúnN	dúnN	dúineL
vocative	dúnN	dúnN	dúineL
accusative	dúnN	dúnN	dúineL
genitive	dúineL	dúine	dúineN
dative	dúinL	dúinib	dúinib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: dún
• Manx: doon
• Scottish Gaelic: dùn

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “dún”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd̪uːn/

Pronoun

dún

1. alternative spelling of dúnn
   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 56^a18

     ind roisc du·n-écomnacht-su dún, a Dǽ

     of the eye that you sg have given (to) us, O God

Mutation

Mutation of dún

radical	lenition	nasalization
dún	dún pronounced with /ð-/	ndún

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

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian *dūn, dūne, borrowed from Middle Dutch dune, from Old Dutch dūn, dūno, from Proto-West Germanic *dūnā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdyn/

Noun

dún c (plural dunen, diminutive dúntsje)

1. dune

Further reading

• “dún (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011