strath

English

Etymology

From Scottish Gaelic srath, from Old Irish srath, from Proto-Celtic *stratos, from Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃-. The meaning was likely influenced by a Cumbric/Pictish cognate (cf. Welsh ystrad). Doublet of stratus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /stɹæθ/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Audio (General American):(file)
  • Rhymes: -æθ

Noun

strath (plural straths)

  1. (Scotland) A wide, flat river valley.
    • 1874, Bayard Taylor, chapter IV, in Central Asia. Travels in Cashmere, Little Tibet, and Central Asia:
      The place of exit from the hills of one or other of the Punjab rivers could generally be pointed out to me; the straths and gorges that opened upon the plains would often afford a peep into the interior of the mountains...
    • 1972, George Mackay Brown, Greenvoe, Polygon, published 2019, page 237:
      Agatha and Inga rode their horses with style across the strath.