Tailtiu

English

Proper noun

Tailtiu

1. (Irish mythology) A presumed goddess who was the survivor of the invasion of Tuatha Dé Danann and was the foster mother of Lugh.
2. The town in County Meath that was named after her.

Alternative forms

• (goddess): Tailte, Tailltiu, Talti

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtalʲ.tʲu/

Proper noun

Tailtiu f (genitive Tailten)

1. Teltown (a town in County Meath, Ireland)
2. (Irish mythology) A goddess in Irish mythology originally serving as a personification of the town.

Inflection

Feminine n-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	Tailtiu	—	—
Vocative	Tailtiu	—	—
Accusative	TailtinN	—	—
Genitive	Tailten	—	—
Dative	TailtinL, TailtiuL	—	—
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Middle Irish: Tailtiu
  • Irish: Tailtin
    • → English: Teltown
  • → English: Tailtiu

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “Tailtiu”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language