caileag

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From caile (“vulgar girl, quean, hussy, strumpet, maid servant”) +‎ -ag (“diminutive”). From Old Irish caile (“maid”); compare Breton plac’h (“girl”); Ancient Greek παλλακή (pallakḗ, “concubine”), Latin pellex.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʰalak/

Noun

caileag f (genitive singular caileige, plural caileagan)

1. girl, lass, damsel
   • 1879, Traditional, “A Mhairi Bhinn, Mheall-Shuileach”, in The Gaelic Songster (An t-Oranaiche), Glasgow: A. Stewart, page 48:

     Cha b'e meud do stòrais
     A chuir mi fhéin an tòir ort,
     Ach caileag laghach, bhòidheach,
     Bhi còmhla rium ag éirigh.

     It was not the amount of your wealth
     That sent myself in pursuit of you,
     But a girl, pleasant, beautiful,
     To be rising together with me.

2. European pollock (Pollachius pollachius)

Mutation

Mutation of caileag

radical	lenition
caileag	chaileag

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

Further reading

• MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “caileag”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎^[1], Stirling, →ISBN
• “caileag” in Am Faclair Beag - Scottish Gaelic Dictionary.
• “caileag” in Am Faclair Beag - Scottish Gaelic Dictionary.