diabhal

Irish

Alternative forms

• deabhal (Connacht)

Etymology

From Old Irish díabul, from Latin diabolus (“devil”), from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos, “slanderer”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʲiəl̪ˠ/

Noun

diabhal m (genitive singular diabhail, nominative plural diabhail)

1. devil

   Ní dual don diabhal bheith díomhaoin

   No rest for the wicked

   (literally, “It is not in the devil's nature to be idle”)

   Synonym: áibhirseoir

Declension

Declension of diabhal

First declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative diabhal diabhail Vocative a dhiabhail a dhiabhala Genitive diabhail diabhal Dative diabhal diabhail

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an diabhal na diabhail Genitive an diabhail na ndiabhal Dative leis an diabhal don diabhal leis na diabhail

Derived terms

• crosdiabhal (“Devil’s imp, mischievous person”)
• diabhal Tasmánach (“Tasmanian devil”)
• diabhaldánacht f (“devilry, diabolic art”)
• diabhalta (“mischievous; very”, adjective)
• diabhlaí (“diabolic, devilish”, adjective)
• diabhlánach m (“mischievous person; rogue, rascal”)
• diabhlóir m (“wicked person; mischievous person”)

 

Related terms

• diabhlaíocht f (“devilry; wizardry, witchcraft; devilment, mischievousness; cursing”)

Determiner

diabhal

1. (colloquial) no, not a (emphatic)

   diabhal focal ― not a single word

   diabhal duine ― no one at all

Synonyms

• don deabhal (Connacht)
• don diabhal

References

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “diabhal”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 díabul”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

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Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish díabul, from Latin diabolus, from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos, “slanderer”).

Noun

diabhal m (genitive singular diabhail, plural diabhlan or diabhail)

1. devil

Derived terms

• ban-diabhal (“female devil, fury”)

References

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “diabhal”, 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), “2 díabul”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language