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Common Gaelic words that crop up in our Placenames It is common in Gaelic tradition to use human body parts to describe landscape features, as you will see below. |
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| Abhainn |
(fem; gen sing = aibhne) |
river or stream. |
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| Achadh |
(masc; gen sing = achaidh) |
field; plain; meadow; cornfield newly cut or ready for reaping. |
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| Àiridh |
(fem; gen sing = àiridhe) |
a shieling; the place in the hills where people traditionally went for the summer months to herd cattle and to produce food, mend the creels and so forth. |
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| Airidh |
(masc; gen sing = airidh) |
a green grove; a place where willow grows. |
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| Allt |
(masc; gen sing = uillt) |
mountain stream; brook; river with precipitous banks. |
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| Alt |
(masc; gen sing = uilt) |
valley, high place |
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| Aodann |
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face (human also); surface |
Aodann srath bhainn; Aodann bhain (Edinbane) |
| Àrd |
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a high place |
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| Badan |
(masc; gen sing = badain) |
small cluster/clump/bundle or turf; little grove; thicket of wood. |
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| Bagh |
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a bay |
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| Baile |
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a township or settlement |
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| Bealach |
(masc; gen sing = bealaich) |
pass or gorge of a mountain; glen; gap; gateway; gate. |
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| Beinn |
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a hill |
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| Bioda |
(masc; gen sing = biodan) |
pointed top; hill top |
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| Blàr |
(masc; gen sing = blàir) |
plain; field; ground; green; battle; battlefield; peat; moss; marsh. |
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| Blàran |
(masc; gen sing = blàrain) |
small level spot; glade; little plain field; little moss. |
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| Bod |
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stone pillar |
Bod an Storr (alleged likely to be the real original name of Bodach an Storr |
| Bodha |
(masc; gen sing = bodha) |
submerged rock or reef; breaker over sunken rocks. |
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| Bràigh |
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upper chest (human); uplands |
Bràigh Thròndairnis - the Braes of Trotternish |
| Bruach |
(fem; gen sing = bruaich) |
bank; border; bruach an uillt = the bank of the river; air na bruachan seo = about these borders. |
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| Bruachag; bruachan (fem) |
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little bank. |
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| Bruthach |
fem & masc; gen sing = bruthaich |
brae; precipice; hillside; ascent; acclivity. |
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| Buaile |
fem; gen sing = buaile |
fold for sheep or black cattle; stall; dairy; herd or number of cattle; circle; halo. |
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| Bugha |
masc; gen sing = bugha |
peninsula formed by the winding of a river (in Skye); green spot by a stream. |
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| Cadha |
masc; gen sing = unknown |
narrow path/pass way, from Norse 'gata', at side or foot of mountain/narrow ravine (often wrongly translated in Sutherland, Ross and Argyll as brae). |
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| Caisteal |
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castle |
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| Caol, caolas |
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a narrow or strait |
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| Càrn |
masc; gen sing = càirn & cùirn |
cairn; heap or pile of stones loosely thrown together; rock; memorial of the dead. |
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| Cath |
masc; gen sing = catha |
battle; army; fight; contest. |
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| Càth |
fem; gen sing = càtha & càithe |
seeds; husks of corn; chaff |
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| Ceann |
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head (human also; end) |
Ceann Loch Gilp (Lochgilphead) |
| Ceap |
masc; gen sing = cip |
top (as of a hill); stocks; sign set up as a rallying point in time of battle |
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| Cill |
fem; gen sing = cille |
cell; church; chapel; churchyard; burying ground; grave |
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| Cille- |
fem; gen sing = unknown |
when prefixed to a name, this implies the builder of a church Note - before a vowel, it is written as Cill'. |
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| Cìoch |
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Breast (human); pointed hills |
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| Clach |
fem; gen sing = cloiche |
stone; pebble; rock; monument; memorial; a stone in weight (ie 14 lbs). |
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| Clachan |
masc; gen sing = clachain |
village or hamlet where there is a parish church, inn and smithy; church; churchyard; burying place; Druidical circle composed of stones raised on end; stepping stones. |
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| Cnoc |
masc; gen sing = cnuic & cnoic |
hill; knoll; hillock. |
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| Còinneach |
fem; gen sing = coinnich |
moss; air lic choinnich = on mossy slopes. |
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| Coire |
masc; gen sing = unknown |
circular hollow surrounded by hills; mountain dell; whirlpool. |
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| Crannag(an) |
fem; gen sing = crannaig |
pulpit; round top of a mast; fortified island in a lake. |
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| Creag |
fem; gen sing = creige |
rock; cragg; cliff; precipice; quarry; hill. |
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| Creagan |
masc; gen sing = creagain nom pl = creaganan |
rocks plural; little rock; rocky place. |
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| Croit |
fem; gen sing = croite |
small piece of arable land; hillock; hunchback. |
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| Cuag |
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awkward curve or bend. |
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| Cuan |
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the ocean, sea |
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| Dail |
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meadow |
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| Doire |
fem; gen sing = doire |
grove; thicket; insulated clumb of (esp oak) trees |
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| Doireach |
adj |
abounding in woods; groves or thickets; of or belonging to a grove, wood or thicket. |
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| Drochaid |
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bridge |
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| Druim |
masc; gen sing = droma |
ridge of a hill; mountain ridge; first furrows of a ridge; back of man or animal; keel of a ship, irregular noun - see Dwelly's. |
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| Dùn |
masc; gen sing = duin |
hilly, heap; hill; hillock; mound; fortified house or hill; forress; castle; tower |
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| Dùnach |
adj |
hilly, full of heaps or knolls; full of towers or forts |
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| Eas |
masc; gen sing = easa |
waterfall; stream with high steep banks |
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| Eilean |
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island |
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| Feannag |
fem; gen sing = feannaige |
rig, ridge of ground, generally used for growing potatoes & sometimes also for raising corn; lazy bed; rock. |
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| Feàrna |
fem; gen sing = |
alder |
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| Fèith |
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human vein; bog-channel |
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| Gàradh |
masc; gen sing = garaidh (nom pl = garaidhean; garaidhnean; garachan) |
garden; wall; dyke; mound |
Gàradh-arbhair is a corn yard/stackyard. Gàradh-cail is a kitchen garden Gàradh luibhean is a herb garden. |
| Garadh |
masc; gen sing = garaidh |
den, esp of the foxes; cave |
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| Garbh |
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rough |
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| Gead |
fem; gen sing = geid |
small spot of arable land; 'lazy bed'; bed in a garden; star or spot in a horse's forehead. |
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| Geòdha |
unsure of gender or gen sing |
a creek or cove formed by surrounding rocks; bay geòdhach is abounding in creeks or hollow rocks; gulfy |
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| Glaic |
fem; gen sing = glaice |
hollow valley; narrow valley |
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| Gleann |
; gen sing = glinn & glinne nom plur = glinn; gleannan; gleanntaidh; glinnte and gleanntan gleanna; |
valley, opening between two heights; glen; dell; dale |
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| Gruagach |
fem; gen sing = gruagaich |
young maiden; bridesmaid; having feminine hair |
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| Gualann |
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shoulder (human also); mountain ridge |
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| Igh |
fem; gen sing not given |
burn; small stream with green banks. |
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| Ighe |
fem; gen sing = ighean |
island; an island on the river |
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| Inbhir |
masc; gen sing = inbhirean? |
Mouth of a river; confluence of waters; cove or creek at the mouth of a river; angular piece of ground at the confluence of two waters |
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| Innis |
fem; gen sing = ìnnse nom plur = innsean; innseachan |
sheltered valley protected by a wood; field in which cattle are grazed; resting place for cattle; pasture |
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| Iochdar |
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low land |
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| Lag |
masc; gen sing = luig & laig |
cave; den; pit; hollow between two knolls |
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Lagan |
masc; gen sing = |
little hollow or cavity; little pit or den |
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| Làrach |
fem; gen sing = làraich |
site of a building; ruin; scene of a battle; farm; habitation; abode |
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| Leac |
fem; gen sing = lice & lic nom plural = leacan |
flat stone; tombstone; hill; summit of a hill; ledge of rock jutting out from the foot of a cliff on the foreshore and which is covered by the sea at flood tides |
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| Lian |
masc; gen sing = liana |
field, plain, meadow lianach = of many fields, plains or meadows |
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| Lianag |
fem; gen sing = lianaig |
small field, plain or meadow |
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| Linne |
fem; gen sing not known nom plural = linneachan linnteachan and linntean |
pool; pond; lake; linn; gulf; channel; waterfall; sea; abyss; strait; sound; entrance to a gulf; pool in a river; part of the sea near the shore; bay |
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| Lios |
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garden |
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| Lìth |
fem; gen sing = lithe |
pool; stagnant water |
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| Loch |
gen sing = locha & luich |
arm of the sea; lake; a fresh water lake is loch uisge |
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| Lòn |
masc; gen sing = lòin |
meadow; lawn; small brook, esp with marshy banks; pond; water; mud |
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| Long |
fem; gen sing = luing(e) |
any kind of ship; 3-4 masted barge |
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| Maol |
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headland, peninsula |
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| Mòine |
fem; gen sing = mòna & mòine |
bog; peat; turf; moss; marshy place; morass moineach /mointeachail = boggy, mossy, marshy |
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| Ob |
masc; gen sing = òba |
a bay; creek; harbour; shallow pool |
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| Poll |
masc; gen sing = puill nom plural = puill |
bog; mud; hole; pit mire; pond; pool; dark and deep part of any stream; wet miry meadow, deep stagnant water |
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| Port |
masc; gen sing = puirt nom plural = puirt & portan |
harbour; port; strait; firth; bay; gate; fort; garrison |
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| Rubha |
Dwelly advises us not to use this spelling |
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| Rudha |
masc; gen sing = (as before) |
point of land; promontory |
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| Sgeir |
fem; gen sing = sgeire nom plural = sgeirean |
rock in the sea nearly or quite covered by neap tides and quite covered by spring tides; peat bank; cliff; sharp, flinty rock |
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| Sgùrr |
masc; gen sing = sgùrra nom plural = sgùrran |
high conical hill; sgor; high sharp pointed hill |
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| Sloc |
gen sing = sluic |
den; hollow; dell; grave; pool; ditch; marsh |
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| Slochd |
Dwelly advises us not to use this spelling |
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| Srath |
masc; gen sing = sratha |
valley through which a river runs; meadow; low lying or flat part of a valley district or farm; any low lying country along a river; straty; the low, inhabited part of a country in contra-distinction to its hilly ground |
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| Sròn |
fem; gen sing = sròine |
promontory; headland running from a mountain to a 'strath'; ridge of a hill |
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| Stac |
masc; gen sing = staca & staic |
precipice; steep high cliff or hill; projecting rock; conical hill |
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| Strath |
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Dwelly advises us not to use this spelling |
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| Teanga |
fem; gen sing = teangaidh |
tongue of land |
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| Tobar |
masc; gen sing = tobair & toibre nom plural = tobraiche; tobraichean & toibrichean |
well; fountain; spring; source; origin |
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| Tobhta |
fem; gen sing = not given |
ruin of a home |
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| Tobhtag |
fem; gen sing = tobhtagain |
small yard containing a stack or two of corn, often with turf walls |
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| Tom |
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hill |
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| Tòn |
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buttocks (human); eminence |
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| Uaigh |
fem; gen sing = uaighe & uaghach nom plural = uaighean & uaghaichean |
grave; tomb; sepulchre; den; cave; cavern |
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| Uaimh |
fem; gen sing = uamha & uaimhe nom plural = uamhan & uaimhean |
den; grave; hollow; cave |
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