English
wikipedia
Etymology
From Ir. bean#Irish|bean sídhe, from OIr. ben síde, literally �woman of the fairy mound�. The term banshee entered English in 1771.

Pronunciation
IPA|/bæn��i:/, /�bæn�i:/

Noun
en-noun

1. In Irish folklore, a female spirit, usually taking the form of a woman whose mournful wailing warns of an impending death. Originally a fairy woman singing a caoin|caoineadh (lament) for recently-deceased members of the O'Grady, the O'Neill, the O'Brien, the O'Connor, and the Kavanagh families, translations into English made a distinction between the banshee and other fairy folk that the original language and original stories do not seem to have, and thus the current image of the banshee.

Translations

Finnish: Banshee
Irish: bean sí f
mid
Scottish Gaelic: bean-shìdh f

See also
sidhe

Category:Irish derivations
Category:Irish mythology

no:banshee
ru:banshee
vi:banshee
zh:banshee

• 2007-06-25 18:25 - Beobach972 -

Full Revision History