"shillelagh" meaning in English

See shillelagh in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ʃəˈleɪli/ [General-American, Received-Pronunciation] Audio: En-us-shillelagh.oga [US] Forms: shillelaghs [plural]
Rhymes: -eɪli Etymology: From Irish sail éille (“shillelagh”, literally “cudgel of a thong”), altered to match the name of the village of Shillelagh (from Irish Síol Éalaigh (literally “descendants of Éalach”), because the forest near it provided wood from which such clubs could be made. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|ga|sail éille|lit=cudgel of a thong|t=shillelagh}} Irish sail éille (“shillelagh”, literally “cudgel of a thong”), {{der|en|ga|Síol Éalaigh|lit=descendants of Éalach}} Irish Síol Éalaigh (literally “descendants of Éalach”) Head templates: {{en-noun}} shillelagh (plural shillelaghs)
  1. (Ireland) A wooden (traditionally blackthorn (sloe) wood) club ending with a large knob. Tags: Ireland Translations (wooden club ending with a large knob): sail éille [feminine] (Irish)
    Sense id: en-shillelagh-en-noun-ucGqP4pd Categories (other): Irish English, English entries with topic categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 49 51 Disambiguation of 'wooden club ending with a large knob': 91 9
  2. Any cudgel, whether or not of Irish origin. Categories (topical): Weapons
    Sense id: en-shillelagh-en-noun-NRON0cVg Disambiguation of Weapons: 11 89 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with topic categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 35 65 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 49 51
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: shillala, shillalah, shillelah, shillalagh, shillaly, shillely Related terms: blackthorn

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for shillelagh meaning in English (5.1kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ga",
        "3": "sail éille",
        "lit": "cudgel of a thong",
        "t": "shillelagh"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish sail éille (“shillelagh”, literally “cudgel of a thong”)",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ga",
        "3": "Síol Éalaigh",
        "lit": "descendants of Éalach"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish Síol Éalaigh (literally “descendants of Éalach”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Irish sail éille (“shillelagh”, literally “cudgel of a thong”), altered to match the name of the village of Shillelagh (from Irish Síol Éalaigh (literally “descendants of Éalach”), because the forest near it provided wood from which such clubs could be made.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "shillelaghs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "shillelagh (plural shillelaghs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "shil‧le‧lagh"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "blackthorn"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Irish English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "49 51",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1842, Charlotte Elizabeth, “Letter IX. The Dumb Boy.”, in Personal Recollections. [...] From the London Edition, New York, N.Y.: John S. Taylor & Co. No. 145 Nassau-Street, Brick Church Chapel, →OCLC, pages 151–152",
          "text": "[T]he stem of a stout young oak or ash tree, into the end of which, where the roots had been rounded off, a quantity of molten lead was poured, making the shillelagh more formidable in such hands than a sword would have been – much harder to parry, and impossible to break.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "[1864], T. Maclagan, “The Twig of the Shannon”, in Maclagan's Musical Age Songster, Containing All the Most Popular Songs Sung by T. Maclagan, London: The Music-Publishing Company, 19 Peter's Hill, St. Paul's, E.C., →OCLC, page 27",
          "text": "It beats all your guns and your rifles, / For it goes off whene'er you desire, / And it's sure to hit just what it aims at, / For shillelaghs they never miss fire.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1958, Terence Hanbury White, The Once and Future King, London: William Collins, Sons, →OCLC",
          "text": "\"My sorrow!\" cried Toirdealbhach. \"What do I want to be a saint for at all, is my puzzle! If I could fetch one crack at somebody with me ould shillelagh\"—here he produced a frightful-looking weapon from under his gown—\"wouldn't it be better than all the saints in Ireland?\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, John W. Hurley, “Irish Martial Arts”, in Shillelagh: The Irish Fighting Stick, Pipersville, Pa.: Caravat Press, page 15",
          "text": "The precise size and shape of a shillelagh can be hard to agree upon, but most of those who have an interest in Irish culture will readily acknowledge that a knobbed stick, made of oak or blackthorn, are the distinguishing characteristics of a shillelagh.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A wooden (traditionally blackthorn (sloe) wood) club ending with a large knob."
      ],
      "id": "en-shillelagh-en-noun-ucGqP4pd",
      "links": [
        [
          "wooden",
          "wooden"
        ],
        [
          "blackthorn",
          "blackthorn"
        ],
        [
          "sloe",
          "sloe"
        ],
        [
          "club",
          "club"
        ],
        [
          "knob",
          "knob"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Ireland) A wooden (traditionally blackthorn (sloe) wood) club ending with a large knob."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Ireland"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "wooden club ending with a large knob",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "sail éille"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "35 65",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "49 51",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 89",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Weapons",
          "orig": "en:Weapons",
          "parents": [
            "Hunting",
            "Military",
            "Tools",
            "Human activity",
            "Society",
            "Technology",
            "Human behaviour",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any cudgel, whether or not of Irish origin."
      ],
      "id": "en-shillelagh-en-noun-NRON0cVg",
      "links": [
        [
          "cudgel",
          "cudgel"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃəˈleɪli/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪli"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-shillelagh.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2c/En-us-shillelagh.oga/En-us-shillelagh.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/En-us-shillelagh.oga",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "shillala"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "shillalah"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "shillelah"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "shillalagh"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "shillaly"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "shillely"
    }
  ],
  "word": "shillelagh"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 3-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from Irish",
    "English terms derived from Irish",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪli",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪli/3 syllables",
    "en:Weapons"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ga",
        "3": "sail éille",
        "lit": "cudgel of a thong",
        "t": "shillelagh"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish sail éille (“shillelagh”, literally “cudgel of a thong”)",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ga",
        "3": "Síol Éalaigh",
        "lit": "descendants of Éalach"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish Síol Éalaigh (literally “descendants of Éalach”)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Irish sail éille (“shillelagh”, literally “cudgel of a thong”), altered to match the name of the village of Shillelagh (from Irish Síol Éalaigh (literally “descendants of Éalach”), because the forest near it provided wood from which such clubs could be made.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "shillelaghs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "shillelagh (plural shillelaghs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "shil‧le‧lagh"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "blackthorn"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Irish English"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1842, Charlotte Elizabeth, “Letter IX. The Dumb Boy.”, in Personal Recollections. [...] From the London Edition, New York, N.Y.: John S. Taylor & Co. No. 145 Nassau-Street, Brick Church Chapel, →OCLC, pages 151–152",
          "text": "[T]he stem of a stout young oak or ash tree, into the end of which, where the roots had been rounded off, a quantity of molten lead was poured, making the shillelagh more formidable in such hands than a sword would have been – much harder to parry, and impossible to break.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "[1864], T. Maclagan, “The Twig of the Shannon”, in Maclagan's Musical Age Songster, Containing All the Most Popular Songs Sung by T. Maclagan, London: The Music-Publishing Company, 19 Peter's Hill, St. Paul's, E.C., →OCLC, page 27",
          "text": "It beats all your guns and your rifles, / For it goes off whene'er you desire, / And it's sure to hit just what it aims at, / For shillelaghs they never miss fire.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1958, Terence Hanbury White, The Once and Future King, London: William Collins, Sons, →OCLC",
          "text": "\"My sorrow!\" cried Toirdealbhach. \"What do I want to be a saint for at all, is my puzzle! If I could fetch one crack at somebody with me ould shillelagh\"—here he produced a frightful-looking weapon from under his gown—\"wouldn't it be better than all the saints in Ireland?\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, John W. Hurley, “Irish Martial Arts”, in Shillelagh: The Irish Fighting Stick, Pipersville, Pa.: Caravat Press, page 15",
          "text": "The precise size and shape of a shillelagh can be hard to agree upon, but most of those who have an interest in Irish culture will readily acknowledge that a knobbed stick, made of oak or blackthorn, are the distinguishing characteristics of a shillelagh.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A wooden (traditionally blackthorn (sloe) wood) club ending with a large knob."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "wooden",
          "wooden"
        ],
        [
          "blackthorn",
          "blackthorn"
        ],
        [
          "sloe",
          "sloe"
        ],
        [
          "club",
          "club"
        ],
        [
          "knob",
          "knob"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Ireland) A wooden (traditionally blackthorn (sloe) wood) club ending with a large knob."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Ireland"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Any cudgel, whether or not of Irish origin."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "cudgel",
          "cudgel"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃəˈleɪli/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪli"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-shillelagh.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2c/En-us-shillelagh.oga/En-us-shillelagh.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/En-us-shillelagh.oga",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "shillala"
    },
    {
      "word": "shillalah"
    },
    {
      "word": "shillelah"
    },
    {
      "word": "shillalagh"
    },
    {
      "word": "shillaly"
    },
    {
      "word": "shillely"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "wooden club ending with a large knob",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "sail éille"
    }
  ],
  "word": "shillelagh"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.