oíche

Irish

Alternative forms

• adhaigh (obsolete)
• oidhche (superseded)

Etymology

From Old Irish aidche and aidchi, the oblique forms of adaig, from earlier *adekʷī or *adekī, of unknown origin; possibly cognate with Latin āter (“dark”) or Sanskrit अन्ध (andha, “blind”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈiːhə]
• IPA^(key): [ˈiːçə]
• IPA^(key): [ˈiː]

Noun

oíche f (genitive singular oíche, nominative plural oícheanta or oícheanna)

1. night
   1. period of darkness, night-time
   2. nightfall

      Synonym: titim na hoíche

   3. used adverbially
2. portion of night taken as an occasion
3. 1. night following a particular day
   2. eve (of festival)

Declension

Declension of oíche

Fourth declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative oíche oícheanta Vocative a oíche a oícheanta Genitive oíche oícheanta Dative oíche oícheanta

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an oíche na hoícheanta Genitive na hoíche na n-oícheanta Dative leis an oíche don oíche leis na hoícheanta

• Alternative plural: oícheanna

Derived terms

• anoíche (“late hour of night”)
• cailleach oíche (“owl”)
• club oíche (“nightclub”)
• daille oíche (“nyctalopia, night blindness”)
• dord na hoíche (“tattoo”)
• éan oíche (“bird of night”)
• go hoíche, go titim na hoíche (“till nightfall”)
• iostas na hoíche (“night's lodging”)
• léine oíche (“night-shirt”)
• mála oíche (“overnight bag”)
• meán oíche (“midnight”)
• obair oíche (“night-work”)
• oíche chinn an dá lá dhéag (“eve of Epiphany”)
• oíche chinn bliana (“New Year's eve”)
• oíche chinn féile (“eve of festival”)
• oíche mhaith! (“good night!”)
• Oíche na Gloine Briste (“Kristallnacht”)
• Oíche Nollag (“Christmas Eve”)
• Oíche Shamhna (“Halloween”)
• oíche-iamh (“nyctinasty”)
• oíchí (“nocturnal”, adjective)
• solas oíche (“night-light”)
• thar oíche (“overnight”)

 

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
oíche	n-oíche	hoíche	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

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