gabháil

See also: gabhail

Irish

Alternative forms

• goil (Connacht)
• gabháilt (Munster)

Etymology

From Old Irish gabál, from Proto-Celtic *gabaglā; compare Welsh gafael. By surface analysis, gabh +‎ -áil, though this verbal noun itself is the origin of the suffix -áil.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ɡvˠɑːlʲ(tʲ)/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈɡawɑːlʲ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): (“yeast”) /ˈɡɔːlʲ/; (verbal noun of gabh) /ɡɔlʲ/, /ɡɔlˠ/, /ɡɔl̪ˠ/

Noun

gabháil m (genitive singular gabhála, nominative plural gabhálacha)

1. verbal noun of gabh
2. catch, seizure, capture; assumption (of authority); occupation (of territory); acceptance; undertaking; tolerance
3. fitting, adjustment; yoke, harness; attire; control; prop, support
4. (music, poetry) rendering
5. barm, yeast, leaven

   Synonym: giosta

Declension

Declension of gabháil

Third declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative gabháil gabhálacha Vocative a ghabháil a ghabhálacha Genitive gabhála gabhálacha Dative gabháil gabhálacha

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an gabháil na gabhálacha Genitive an ghabhála na ngabhálacha Dative leis an ngabháil don ghabháil leis na gabhálacha

Derived terms

• gabhálach (“taking, catching; receptive; contagious; gripping, grasping, occupying; possessive, avaricious”)
• gabhálacht (“receptiveness, receptivity; contagiousness; graspingness, avarice”)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
gabháil	ghabháil	ngabháil
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “gabháil”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “gabháil”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “gabháil”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024