ablach

Derived from Middle Irish ablaid (“to die”), regularised from Old Irish at·baill (“to die”). Perhaps influenced by Middle Irish apach (“corpse, remains, entrails”) (see abach).

ablach m (genitive singular ablaigh, nominative plural ablaigh)

1. carcass; carrion
2. hulk (of person)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

ablach (genitive singular masculine ablaigh, genitive singular feminine ablaí, plural ablacha, comparative ablaí)

1. fat, soft

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ablach”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 ablach (‘carcass, carrion’)”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “ablach”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “ablach”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025

• abloch, ablack, ablich, aiblich

Akin to Old Irish ablach (“carcass, corpse, carrion”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑbləx/
• (Northern Scots) IPA^(key): /ˈɑblɪç/
• (Doric Scots) IPA^(key): /ˈeblɪç/

ablach (plural ablachs)

1. A mangled carcass or dead body.
2. A body not necessarily dead but maimed or reduced to a pitiable condition.
3. An insignificant or contemptible person through lack of size or defect of will or intellect.
4. An untidy or clumsy person.
5. (humorous) child
6. An object defective through lack of size.

• “ablach, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.