Irish
Ir·ish/ˈaɪɹɪʃ/noun, adjective
Irish is spelled I-R-I-S-H: 5 letters and 2 syllables (Ir·ish). It appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,785th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, Irish means “Temper; anger, passion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of Irish is Irishes.
How many letters and syllables are in Irish?
| Letters | 5: I-R-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: Ir·ish |
| In writing | 35 times per million words; the 2,785th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is Irish?
Irish appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,785th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce Irish?
- /ˈaɪɹɪʃ/
- /ˈaɪəɹɪʃ/
- /ˈaɪɹəʃ/
Irish has 2 syllables, split Ir·ish in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-Irish.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of Irish
- Irishes plural
- more Irish comparative
- most Irish superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does Irish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteA board game of the tables family.
- 2
USTemper; anger, passion.
- 3
Whiskey, or whisky, elaborated in Ireland.
adjective
- 1
Pertaining to or originating from Ireland or the Irish people.
Sheep are typical in the Irish landscape.
- 2
Pertaining to the Irish language.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Irish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | irlandais , gaélique |
| German | irisch, irländisch , Irisch |
| Portuguese | irlandês |
| Spanish | irlandés |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does Irish come from?
From Middle English Irish (12th c.), from Old English *Īrisċ, from Old English Īras (“Irishmen”), from Old Norse Írar, from Old Irish Ériu (modern Irish Éire (“Ireland”)), further origin heavily debated but probably from Proto-Celtic *Φīweriyū (“fat land, fertile”), from Proto-Indo-European *péyh₂wr̥ (“fat, swelling”), from *peyh₂- (“to swell; to be fat”), akin to Ancient Greek πῑ́ειρα (pī́eira, “fertile land”), Sanskrit पीव॑री (pī́varī, “fat”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).