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  1. ceilidh love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. An Irish or Scottish social gathering with traditional music, dancing, and storytelling.

Wiktionary

  1. n. An Irish or Scottish informal social gathering where traditional folk music is played, with dancing and story telling.
  2. n. Any such gathering in the Celtic diaspora.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. an informal social gathering at which there is Scottish or Irish folk music and singing and folk dancing and story telling

Etymologies

  1. From Scottish Gaelic cèilidh, Irish céilidhe, from Old Irish céile ("companion"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Irish Gaelic céilidhe, from Old Irish célide, visit, from céle, companion; see kei-1 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘ceilidh’.

Comments

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  • reesetee Ah, thank heavens for sionnach! I had a feeling those missing accents had something to do with all of this. :-) Jan 23, 2008

  • sionnach In Ireland, it's pronounced 'kay-lee', with roughly equal stress on both syllables. 'key-lee' just seems wrong.

    There are two variations in the Gaelic spelling: in Munster (where I grew up), it's written as 'céilí'. 'Céilidh' is the preferred spelling in Northern Ireland (and, I'm guessing, in Scots Gaelic).

    I don't think there is any particular confusion about how the word is accented - the presence of two accent marks in the first spelling makes it clear that both syllables should be stressed equally. The second accent is omitted in 'Céilidh' because the effect of adding the 'dh' is to lengthen the vowel, so the accent becomes superfluous.

    Inclusion of 'storytelling' in the definition is a delusion of Weirdnet. Jan 23, 2008

  • asativum You say ceilidh,
    I say ceilidh,
    Let's call the whole thing off! Jan 23, 2008

  • seanahan Random House has "key-lee", but the rest have "kay-lee". Bartleby has an audio sample attached, and there is a more noticeable pause in between the two syllables than in daily. Jan 23, 2008

  • asativum Oh dear. Can't a nation of 300-million mainly English-speakers* agree on how to stress the syllables of a Gaelic word?

    (edit): * Erm -- and their lovely and decidedly independent neighbors to the north, of course... Sorry! Excusez-moi! Jan 23, 2008

  • skipvia In western NC, where I first heard it, it's often pronounced with equal stress on both syllables: KAY-LEE. Jan 23, 2008

  • reesetee That's how I heard it pronounced in Nova Scotia, too: KAY-lee. Jan 23, 2008

  • asativum Thanks! Jan 23, 2008

  • sarra When I first learnt this word many years ago I imagined it was spelt cailey. /'keɪlɪ/, rhymes with daily. Jan 23, 2008

  • asativum Pronounced "hoo-ha," I hope. Because then I have a chance of saying it right. Jan 23, 2008

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‘ceilidh’ has been looked up 1921 times, added to 22 lists, commented on 10 times, and has a Scrabble score of 13.