# Irish

Pronunciation: say "EYE-rish" /ˈaɪɹɪʃ/

## Adjective

1. Of, from, or relating to Ireland, its people, or the Irish language.
   - Simple: From or connected with Ireland, its people, or its language.
   - _The festival celebrated Irish dance and traditional cooking._
   - _Many Irish writers gained international fame in the twentieth century._

## Proper noun

2. The people of Ireland, considered collectively as a nation.
   - Simple: The people who come from Ireland, taken as a group.
   - _The Irish have long been celebrated for their storytelling and song._
   - _Throughout history, the Irish have settled in communities across the globe._
3. Ireland's native Celtic language, belonging to the Gaelic branch and also called Irish Gaelic.
   - Simple: The old native language of Ireland, part of the Celtic family.
   - _He gave the entire speech in Irish without using any notes._
   - _The university offers courses in Irish alongside other Celtic languages._

## Noun

4. Whiskey distilled and produced in Ireland.
   - Simple: Whiskey that is made in Ireland.
   - _The bartender recommended a smooth Irish served over ice._
   - _He keeps a bottle of fine Irish for special occasions._
5. Anger or heated passion; a person's temper when it has been aroused. *(US)*
   - Simple: A person's anger or temper when it is stirred up.
   - _It didn't take much to get his Irish up that afternoon._
   - _Being called a liar in front of his friends got his Irish up, and he stood to argue the point._

## Noun

6. A board game of the tables family, played on a backgammon-style board and closely related to backgammon. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old board game like backgammon, played long ago.

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Nonsensical, daft, or so tangled and convoluted that it seems absurd.

## Origin

The word passed through Middle English from Old English *Īrisċ, based on Īras ("Irishmen"), which perhaps came from Old Norse Írar and ultimately from Old Irish Ériu (modern Irish Éire, "Ireland"). The deeper origin is heavily debated but probably traces to Proto-Celtic *Φīweriyū ("fat land, fertile") and Proto-Indo-European roots meaning "to swell or be fat," akin to Ancient Greek píeira ("fertile land") and Sanskrit pīvarī ("fat").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/irish (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).