ablach

Irish

Etymology 1

Derived from Middle Irish ablaid (“to die”), regularised from Old Irish at·baill (“to die”). Perhaps influenced by Middle Irish apach (“corpse, remains, entrails”) (see abach).

Noun

ablach m (genitive singular ablaigh, nominative plural ablaigh)

1. carcass; carrion
2. hulk (of person)

Declension

Declension of ablach (first declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative ablach ablaigh vocative a ablaigh a ablacha genitive ablaigh ablach dative ablach ablaigh forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an t-ablach na hablaigh genitive an ablaigh na n-ablach dative leis an ablach don ablach leis na hablaigh

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

ablach (genitive singular masculine ablaigh, genitive singular feminine ablaí, plural ablacha, comparative ablaí)

1. fat, soft

Declension

Declension of ablach

Positive	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	strong noun	weak noun
nominative	ablach	ablach	ablacha
vocative	ablaigh		ablacha
genitive		ablaí	ablacha	ablach
dative	ablach	ablach; ablaigh (archaic)	ablacha
Comparative	níos ablaí
Superlative	is ablaí

Mutation

Mutated forms of ablach

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
ablach	n-ablach	hablach	t-ablach

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

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “ablach”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 ablach (‘carcass, carrion’)”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959), “ablach”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “ablach”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025

Scots

Alternative forms

• abloch, ablack, ablich, aiblich

Etymology

Akin to Old Irish ablach (“carcass, corpse, carrion”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑbləx/
• (Northern Scots) IPA^(key): /ˈɑblɪç/
• (Doric Scots) IPA^(key): /ˈeblɪç/

Noun

ablach (plural ablachs)

1. A mangled carcass or dead body.
2. A body not necessarily dead but maimed or reduced to a pitiable condition.
3. An insignificant or contemptible person through lack of size or defect of will or intellect.
4. An untidy or clumsy person.
5. (humorous) child
6. An object defective through lack of size.

References

• “ablach, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.