ceithern

Middle Irish

Alternative forms

• ceithernn, ceithrenn

Etymology

From Old Irish ceithern (“band of soldiers”), borrowed from Latin quaterniō (“group of four soldiers”).

Noun

ceithern f (genitive ceithirne)

1. A band or troop of soldiers or fighting men, kern

Derived terms

• ceithernach (“member or leader of a ceithern”)
  • Irish: ceithearnach

Descendants

• Irish: ceithearn
• Manx: kern
• Scottish Gaelic: ceatharn, ceatharna
• → Middle English: kerne
  • English: kern

Mutation

Middle Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
ceithern	cheithern	ceithern pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “ceithern”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
• MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “ceithern”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎^[1], Stirling, →ISBN, page ceithern