uisce beatha
Irish
Etymology
From uisce (“water”) + beatha (“life”), in origin a calque of Latin aqua vitae.
Pronunciation
Noun
uisce beatha m (genitive singular uisce bheatha)
- whiskey
- Synonyms: beathuisce, fuisce
Derived terms
- uisce beatha Albanach (“Scotch whisky”)
- uisce beatha braiche (“malt whiskey”)
- uisce beatha seagail (“rye whiskey”)
- uisce beatha te (“hot whiskey”)
Mutation
| Irish mutation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Radical | Eclipsis | with h-prothesis | with t-prothesis |
| uisce beatha | n-uisce beatha | huisce beatha | 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) “uisce”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
- de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “uisce beatha”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
- “uisce beatha”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024