fíu

Alternative forms

• fiyu
• ḥíu
• ḥiyu

Etymology

From Latin fīlius.

Noun

fíu m (plural fíos)

1. son
2. child (son or daughter)

Alternative forms

• fiu, fiú

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *wesus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wésus (“excellent”). Cognate to Welsh gwiw, Sanskrit वसु (vásu, “excellent, good, beneficent”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɸʲiːu̯]

Adjective

fíu

1. worthy, fitting
   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 44^c2

     .i. air bin fiu leu etir

     [As if] I was worthy at all in their opinion. [The use of air (“for, since”) in this gloss has long been considered illegible. Editors tend to replace the air with some other construction.]

2. (sometimes) worthwhile
3. worth, equivalent to [with accusative]
   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 63^d1

     amal ní bimmis fíu ní etir

     as if we were not worth anything at all

4. (following co) to the extent of, even including
5. (after comparative) than, as