buachaill

Etymology

From Old Irish búachaill (“cowherd”),^[1] from Proto-Celtic *boukolyos, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷowkólos, from *gʷṓws (“cow”) + *kʷel- (“to revolve, turn around”). Cognates include Breton bugel (“child”), Welsh bugail (“shepherd”), and Ancient Greek βουκόλος (boukólos, “cowherd”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈbˠuəxəlʲ/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈbˠuəxəl̠ʲ/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /ˈbˠɔxəl/^[2]
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈbˠɔxəl̠ʲ/^[3]; /ˈbˠiːxəl̠ʲ/, (older) /ˈbˠɯːxəl̠ʲ/^[4]

Noun

buachaill m (genitive singular buachalla, nominative plural buachaillí)

1. boy; young, unmarried man

   Synonyms: garsún (“pre-pubescent boy”), stócach (“teenage boy”)

   • a. 1916, Pádraig Pearse, translated by Desmond Maguire, Short Stories of Padraig Pearse, published 1989:

     'Cén sórt éadach a bhí an buachaill tuaith a bhí ag caitheamh?' arsa an dlíodóir.

     'What sort of clothes was the country boy wearing?' said the lawyer.

   • 2013 August, Alex Hijmans, “Fiche Bliain ag Spalpadh Gaeilge [Twenty Years Rattling Off In Irish]”, in Beo!‎:

     Ba bheag suime a bhí agamsa, buachaill ocht mbliana déag d’aois as an Ollainn, sa chaint seo.

     I, an eighteen-year-old boy from Holland, had little interest in this speech.

2. boyfriend

   Synonyms: stócach, buachaill óg

3. herdsman
4. servant, male employee
5. lad, boyo
6. useful thing (referring to a masculine noun)

   Is é an rinse an buachaill chun na hoibre.

   The wrench is the right tool for the job.

Mutation

References

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “buachaill”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “buachaill”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “buachaill”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

Alternative forms

• buachaille

Etymology

From Old Irish búachaill (“cowherd”), from Proto-Celtic *boukolyos, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷowkólos, from *gʷōus (“cow”) + *kʷel (“to revolve, move around, sojourn”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpuəçɪʎ/

Noun

buachaill m (genitive singular buachaille, plural buachaillean)

1. cowherd
2. herdsman, shepherd
3. watch or protector of cattle of any kind
4. youth

Mutation

Further reading

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “buachaill”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “búachaill”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language