uisge

Irish

Noun

uisge m (genitive singular uisge, nominative plural uisgí)

1. obsolete spelling of uisce

Declension

Declension of uisge (fourth declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative uisge uisgí vocative a uisge a uisgí genitive uisge uisgí dative uisge uisgí forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an t-uisge na huisgí genitive an uisge na n-uisgí dative leis an uisge don uisge leis na huisgí

Mutation

Mutated forms of uisge

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
uisge	n-uisge	huisge	t-uisge

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

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *wed-

Proto-Indo-European *-r̥

Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥der.

Proto-Celtic *udenskyos

Old Irish uisce

Scottish Gaelic uisge

From Old Irish uisce, from Proto-Celtic *udenskyos, from Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥. Cognate with Irish uisce, Manx ushtey.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɯʃkʲə/
• (Lewis) IPA^(key): /ɯʃkʲ/
  • (Ness) IPA^(key): [iʃkʲ]
  • (Bernera) IPA^(key): [ɯʃkʲ]
  • (Lochs) IPA^(key): [ɨʃkʲ]
• (Jura, Gigha) IPA^(key): /ˈɯʃtʲə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

uisge m (genitive singular uisge, plural uisgeachan)

1. water
2. rain, shower (usually with the definite article)

   Tha an t-uisge ann. ― It is raining. (literally, “The water is there. (i.e. in the air)”)

3. river, stream

   Synonyms: abhainn, sruth

4. (rare) wave

Declension

Declension of uisge (class IId masculine noun)

indefinite
	singular	plural
nominative	uisge	uisgeachan
genitive	uisge	uisgeachan
dative	uisge	uisgeachan; uisgibh1
definite
	singular	plural
nominative	(an) t-uisge	(na) h-uisgeachan
genitive	(an) uisge	(nan) uisgeachan
dative	(an) uisge	(na) h-uisgeachan; h-uisgibh1
vocative	uisge	uisgeachan

¹ archaic or poetic form

• Alternative archaic/poetic dative plural form: uisgeachaibh

Derived terms

• buabhall uisge (“water buffalo”)
• coille-uisge (“rain forest”)
• creagag-uisge (“European perch”)
• dath-uisge (“watercolour”)
• fìor-uisge (“fresh water; spring water”)
• gobha-uisge (“dipper (bird)”)
• iolair-uisge (“osprey”)
• muileann-uisge (“water mill”)
• uisge-adhair (“rainwater”)
• uisge-beatha (“whisky”)
• uisge-coisrigte (“holy water”)
• uisge-dhìonach (“waterproof”)
• uisge-searbhaig (“acid rain”)
• uisge-stiùireach (“wake (behind boat)”)

Descendants

• → English: whisky

Mutation

Mutation of uisge

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
uisge	n-uisge	h-uisge	t-uisge

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

• Edward Dwelly (1911), “uisge”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “uisce”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language