ceilidh

/ˈkeɪli/

//ˈkeɪli// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"ceilidh" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ceilidh” is uncommon English (frequency #73,050 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,050
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An informal social gathering, especially one where traditional Irish or Scottish folk music is played, with dancing and storytelling.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ceilidh · ceilidh · English

ceilidh · rank #73,050 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,050
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH CCE

Nearest frequency peer: CCE (-2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “ceilidh”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “ceilidh” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ceilidh
PropertyValue
Headwordceilidh
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkeɪli/
Letters7
Frequency rank#73,050
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ceilidh” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).ceilidhfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “CCE” (#73,048), “centrifugation” (#73,052), “caulking” (#73,046). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “ceilidh” is #73,050. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ceilidh is uncommon English at frequency #73,050 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkeɪli/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for ceilidh in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is borrowed from Scottish Gaelic cèilidh (“a pilgrimage; a social call, visit; a sojourn; a social gathering with dancing, etc., ceilidh”) and Irish célidhe (archaic), céilí (“a social call, visit; a social gathering with dancing, etc., ceilidh”), … The correct English form is ceilidh, spelled C-E-I-L-I-D-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    An informal social gathering, especially one where traditional Irish or Scottish folk music is played, with dancing and storytelling.
  2. 2
    Ellipsis of ceilidh dance.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how ceilidh appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The fire in the centre of the room was almost a necessity of the good old Ceilidh days. When the people congregated in the evening, the circle could be extended to the full capacity of the room, and occasionally it became necessary to have a circle within a circle. […] The circle became extended by merely pushing back the seats, and this arrangement becam…
  2. [A]ll the details of it are recited with minute exactness around the fireside during the winter ceilidhean.

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from Scottish Gaelic cèilidh (“a pilgrimage; a social call, visit; a sojourn; a social gathering with dancing, etc., ceilidh”) and Irish célidhe (archaic), céilí (“a social call, visit; a social gathering with dancing, etc., ceilidh”), both from Old Irish célide (“social call, visit”), from céile (“companion, fellow; neighbour”) (ultimately from Proto-Celtic *kēiliyos (“companion; servant”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“to settle”)) + -ide. The plural form ceilidhean is borrowed from Scottish Gaelic cèilidhean. The verb is derived from the noun.

This word in other languages

céilí(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ceilidh"?
"ceilidh" is spelled C-E-I-L-I-D-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkeɪli/.
What does "ceilidh" mean?
As a noun, "ceilidh" means: An informal social gathering, especially one where traditional Irish or Scottish folk music is played, with dancing and storytelling.
How do you pronounce "ceilidh"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ceilidh" is /ˈkeɪli/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "ceilidh"?
The noun is borrowed from Scottish Gaelic cèilidh (“a pilgrimage; a social call, visit; a sojourn; a social gathering with dancing, etc., ceilidh”) and Irish célidhe (archaic), céilí (“a social call, visit; a social gathering with dancing, etc., c... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ceilidh", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Chandni#73,054Chipman#73,059Bussing#73,031clamber#73,070

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list