Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. One of a race of elves in Irish folklore who can reveal hidden treasure to those who catch them.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Irish folklore) A small mischevous elf or spirit in Irish folklore; it is often depicted in literature as a dwarfish bearded old man; -- legend tells that if a leprechaun is captured, he will reveal the location of his hidden pot of gold.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a mischievous elf in Irish folklore
Etymologies
- From Irish leipreachán, luprachán, from Middle Irish luchrupán, from Old Irish luchorpán, from lú- “small” (Proto-Indo-European *legwh) + corp “body”, from Latin corpus (Wiktionary)
- Irish Gaelic luprachán, alteration of Middle Irish luchrupán, from Old Irish luchorpán : luchorp (lú-, small; + corp, body from Latin corpus) + -án, diminutive suff. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“As I've said, wrap your tongue around that last phrase like you would the word "leprechaun.”
“Unlike the first Leprechaun mentioned, this leprechaun is a good one who leads the marching band to Notre Dame Stadium, leads the students in cheers at games, and does many other public appearances for the university.”
“If you can really read this post i would like you to know that leprechaun is one of the greatest movies ever made in my mind.”
Darren Lynn Bousman Wants To Send ‘Leprechaun’ Back To The Old West » MTV Movies Blog
“That leprechaun is still walking around those rafters, I guess.”
NBA - National Basketball Association - LA Lakers vs. Boston
“There were the dependable Mike Casey, Paddy Byrne, the little leprechaun from the Irish bogs, and a lot of others.”
“Finally, the word leprechaun has metathesized from Old Irish luchorpán, where the lu - element means ` small 'and the - chorpan derives from Latin corpus ` body'; hence,”
“The leprechaun is a pygmy sprite dressed in green, sometimes living in wine cellars, sometimes farmhouses.”
“The guy we met in Donegal, that I called a leprechaun had this look.”
“What she finds in the dusty old junk shop is a lot more than she expected, and the leprechaun is the least of her worries.”
“He recalled the leprechaun's meeting with the pixie on their first night out of Dvergamal, and only then did he make note of Mickey's remark that his magic was at its strongest in Robert's lair.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘leprechaun’.
-
supernatural creatures according to M...
Turned this up on etymonline.com (link). It's amazing.
Hobbit (n.)
1937, coined in the fantasy tales of J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973).
On a blank leaf I scrawled: 'In a hole...niss, nisses, thrummy-cap, fairy, whitewoman, nicknevin, sibyl, fates, sprite, gnome, cuttie, scrat and 186 more...
-
Mythical Beings
mermaid, manticore, fairy, brownie, dwarf, elf, leprechaun, selkie, gremlin, puck, pixie, genie and 97 more...
-
ChortleGiggleSnort
Significant Words- Guiding you on your path to Snazzibility
flimsy, feeble, ranting, ramble, narky, snazzy, yoghurt, bulbous, pustule, globulous, geranium, megalomaniac and 521 more...
-
A List of Mythical Proportions
All of these things exist, I swear!
unicorn, pegasus, cyclops, yeti, abominable snowman, bigfoot, phoenix, thunderbird, sea serpent, ogre, grue, troll and 138 more...
-
the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
-
reginaterra's Words
purl, blow, squish, andean, generality, adaptation, lush, pack, filter, acquiesce, abstraction, sweet and 508 more...
-
The Devil and His Imps
Names of 'the Devil himself, the devils his "flaming ministers", household goblins, rural demons, bogles, sprites, and fairies of all kinds' mentioned in Charles P.G. Scott's 'The Devil and His Imp...
devil, devilet, deviling, dablet, black angel, black man, black bear, black bull, black dog, bogle, bogie, boggard and 128 more...
-
kringlan's Words
fecund, riposte, nebbish, nonpareil, deign, eschew, imbroglio, spelunking, fop, foofaraw, tundra, talon and 128 more...
-
colleen's words
yellow, green, pie, blue, fur, people, incense, book, brown, avuncular, mountain, fog and 1316 more...
-
NeoVolt's Words
schadenfreude, serendipity, idiosyncrasy, loess, caducous, vagary, schematic, steeple, licentious, tangential, verisimilitude, vernacular and 385 more...
-
Fictional beasties
elf, gnome, dwarf, sprite, troll, fairy, nymph, imp, brownie, sasquatch, yeti, wookiee and 574 more...
-
ulyssean
... as in "by James Joyce"
stately, plump, aloft, gurgling, untonsured, chrysostomos, jowl, parapet, jesuit, indigestion, scutter, noserag and 688 more...
-
State Spelling Bee 2011
Words from the California State Spelling Bee in 2011, from which I got fourth place.
cymbidium, jurisprudence, entourage, cauterize, dressage, roux, pomaceous, malfeasance, jactitation, eclogue, caryotid, obloquy and 126 more...
-
Other
brouhaha, pulchritude, laudanum, orotund, leviathan, inimical, ephemeral, quiescence, exhort, nemoral, inculcate, cacotopia and 125 more...
-
leaven heaven
a haven for lightness
leaven, lever, levity, alleviate, carnival, elevate, legerdemain, mezzo-relievo, relevant, relieve, leprechaun, lung and 36 more...
-
Mythical Beasts
Creatures from mythology.
lorelei, cockatrice, doppelganger, hydra, chimaera, rumpelstiltskin, nymph, leviathan, satyr, siren, yokai, nagas and 9 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for leprechaun.
uselessness I can't read this word without thinking of Wayne Campbell. "I'm the leprechaun!" Dec 11, 2009
marky I don't appreciate leprechauns. Dec 11, 2009
bilby Jumped-up, shoe-duffing bog pixies that they are. Oct 30, 2009
marky they once infested my house. disgusting little buggers. Oct 30, 2009