aois

Irish

Alternative forms

• aos

Etymology

From Old Irish áes, from Proto-Celtic *aiwestom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey-. Cognate with Latin aevum, Sanskrit आयुस् (ā́yus).

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /iːʃ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /iːʃ/, (older) /ɯːʃ/

Noun

aois f (genitive singular aoise, nominative plural aoiseanna)

1. age (of person)

   Cá haois é? Cén aois é? ― How old is he? (lit. What age is he?)

   Cárbh aois é? ― How old was he? (lit. What age was he?)

2. period of expectation of life
3. old age
4. period, era, age (historical period)

   meán aoiseanna ― Middle Ages

5. century

   Bhí sé ag tús na 18ú haoise ― It was at the beginning of the 18th century

Declension

Declension of aois (second declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative aois aoiseanna vocative a aois a aoiseanna genitive aoise aoiseanna dative aois aoiseanna forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an aois na haoiseanna genitive na haoise na n-aoiseanna dative leis an aois don aois leis na haoiseanna

Derived terms

• aosánach m (“youth, youngster”)
• meánaois f (“middle age”)
• Meánaois f (“Middle Ages”)
• nua-aois f (“modern period”)
• oighearaois f (“ice age”)
• príomhaoiseach (“primeval”, adjective)

 

Mutation

Mutated forms of aois

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
aois	n-aois	haois	not applicable

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “aois”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 áes”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “aois”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “aois”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024
• Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 49

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish áes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɯːʃ]

Noun

aois f (genitive singular aoise, plural aoisean)

1. age

   dè an aois a tha thu? ― how old are you?

   seann-aois ― old age

   cha tig an aois leatha fhèin ― old age doesn't come alone

   tha an aois a' laighe oirre ― she is showing her age

Derived terms

• co-aois
• co-aoiseach
• Na Meadhan-aoisean (“the Middle Ages”)

Mutation

Mutation of aois

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
aois	n-aois	h-aois	t-aois

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 áes”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language