fèill

See also: feill and féill

Scottish Gaelic

Alternative forms

féill

Etymology

From Old Irish féil (“feast-day, festival”) (compare Irish féile, Manx feaill), from Latin vigilia (“wakefulness, watch”), from vigil (“awake”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- (“to be strong”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /feːʎ/

Noun

fèill f (genitive singular fèille, plural fèillean or fèilltean)

(dated) feast, festival
a' cumail là féille ― observing or holding a festival or holiday
féill an roid, féill-roid ― the autumnal equinox, rood-day
Cùm an fhéill air an latha. ― Keep the festival on the right day.
1. vigil of a festival
2. banquet where the chief presided
3. guest at such a banquet
fair
market, sale
holiday
làithean féill ― holidays, days of folly
(business, economics) market, demand
Chan eil fèill mhòr air. ― There isn't a great demand/market for it.

Synonyms

(market): margaid, margadh
(demand): iarrtas

Derived terms

Fèill an Taisbeanaidh (“Epiphany”)
Fèill Brìghde (“Candlemas”)
Fèill Màrtainn (“Martinmas”)
Fèill Mìcheil (“Michaelmas”)
Fèill nan Naoimh Uile (“All Saints' Day”)
Fèill Pàdraig (“St. Patrick's Day”)
latha-fèille (“holiday”)

Mutation

Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical	Lenition
fèill	fhèill
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

Edward Dwelly (1911), “fèill”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language (John Grant, Edinburgh, 1925, Compiled by Malcolm MacLennan)
G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “féil”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language