saol

saol

Irish

Alternative forms

• saoghal (superseded)

Etymology

From Old Irish saegul (“lifetime, world”), from Latin saeculum.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): [sˠeːlˠ]
• (Connacht, Ulster) IPA^(key): [sˠiːlˠ]

Noun

saol m (genitive singular saoil, nominative plural saolta)

1. life, lifetime; time; world

   an saol mór ― the whole world; all people, everyone

   1. period of existence
   2. state of existence
   3. conditions of life of a period
   4. way or sphere of life
   5. the world of enjoyment
   6. the world of human affairs
   7. all creation
   8. all people

Declension

Declension of saol

First declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative saol saolta Vocative a shaoil a shaolta Genitive saoil saolta Dative saol saolta

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an saol na saolta Genitive an tsaoil na saolta Dative leis an saol don saol leis na saolta

Synonyms

• (life): beatha
• (world): domhan

Derived terms

• árachas saoil (“life insurance”)
• gearrshaolach (“short-lived; ephemeral, transitory”, adjective)
• saolach, saolmhar (“long-lived”, adjective)
• saolacht f (“survival”)
• saolaí m (“tenant for life”)
• saolaigh (“be born; deliver; give length of life”, verb)
• saol gnéis m (“sex life”)
• saolré f (“life cycle”)
• saolta (“worldly, mundane; lay, secular; respectable”, adjective)

 

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
saol	shaol after an, tsaol	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• "saol" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• “saegul” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.