fír

See also: fir, FIR, and fir-

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʲiːɾʲ/
• Homophone: fíor- (one pronunciation)

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

fír

1. inflection of fíor:
   1. vocative/genitive singular masculine
   2. (archaic) dative singular feminine

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Alternative forms

• fighir (superseded)

Verb

fír

1. (archaic, Munster) second-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of figh

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
fír	fhír	bhfír
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Old Irish

Pronunciation

Nominative singular all genders; feminine and neuter vocative singular; masculine and neuter accusative and dative singular; genitive plural all genders:

• IPA^(key): /fʲiːr/

Masculine vocative singular; masculine and neuter genitive singular; feminine accusative and dative singular; masculine nominative plural:

• IPA^(key): /fʲiːrʲ/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *wīros.

Adjective

fír

1. true
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 22^b23

     Ci as·bera nech ro·pïa nem cía du·gneid na rétu sa, nípa fír.

     Even if anyone says you pl will have heaven although you do these things, it will not be true.

Inflection

o/ā-stem
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	fír	fír	fír
Vocative	fír
Accusative	fír	fír
Genitive	fír	fíre	fír
Dative	fír	fír	fír
Plural	Masculine	Feminine/neuter
Nominative	fír	fíra
Vocative	fíru fíra†
Accusative	fíru fíra†
Genitive	fír
Dative	fíraib
Notes	† not when substantivized

Descendants

• Irish: fíor
• Manx: feer
• Scottish Gaelic: fìor

Etymology 2

From Proto-Celtic *wīrom.

Noun

fír n

1. truth

   Synonym: fírinne

Inflection

Neuter o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	fírN	fírN	fírL, fíra
Vocative	fírN	fírN	fírL, fíra
Accusative	fírN	fírN	fírL, fíra
Genitive	fírL	fír	fírN
Dative	fírL	fíraib	fíraib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
fír	ḟír	fír pronounced with /v(ʲ)-/
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “fír”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language