uisce beatha

Irish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *wed-

Proto-Indo-European *-r̥

Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥der.

Proto-Celtic *udenskyos

Old Irish uisce

Irish uisce

Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃-

Proto-Indo-European *-wós

Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós

Proto-Celtic *biwos

Proto-Celtic *-tūts

Proto-Celtic *biwotūts

Old Irish bethu

Irish beatha

Medieval Latin aqua vītaecalq.

Irish uisce beatha

From uisce (“water”) + beatha (“life”), a calque of Medieval Latin aqua vītae (“water of life”). Compare Scottish Gaelic uisge beatha.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪʃcɪ ˈbʲahə/

Noun

uisce beatha m (genitive singular uisce bheatha)

1. whiskey

   Synonyms: beathuisce, fuisce

Derived terms

• uisce beatha Albanach (“Scotch whisky”)
• uisce beatha braiche (“malt whiskey”)
• uisce beatha seagail (“rye whiskey”)
• uisce beatha te (“hot whiskey”)

 

Descendants

• English: → usquebaugh, water of life, whiskey
• → Yola: usquebaugh, usbaugh

Mutation

Mutated forms of uisce beatha

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
uisce beatha	n-uisce beatha	huisce beatha	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) “uisce”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “uisce beatha”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “uisce beatha”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025