stair
/sˠt̪ˠaɾʲ/feminine
The Irish word for history is stair.
stair is a noun used to refer to the branch of knowledge that studies the past.
Meaning: branch of knowledge that studies the past (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
stair is a feminine noun.
How do you pronounce it?
/sˠt̪ˠaɾʲ/
Did you know?
- While stair refers to history as an academic discipline, the word seanchas is used for the traditional, oral history and folklore of the Irish people.
- The word stair shares an ancient root with the Irish word stór, which means 'treasure' or 'store'.
- Ancient practitioners of seanchas were known as seanchaidhe, who acted as the living archives of a community's history before written records were common.
Examples in context
- Is aoibhinn liom staidéar a dhéanamh ar stair na hÉireann.I love studying Irish history.
- An bhfuil suim agat sa stair?Are you interested in history?
Example conversation
Two students are talking about their college classes.
- OisínCén clár atá agat, a Aoife?What course are you doing, Aoife?
- AoifeTá mé ag déanamh stair.I am doing history.
- OisínAn bhfuil an stair difíseal?Is history difficult?
- AoifeNíl, tá sé an-suimiúil!No, it is very interesting!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “history” translations and entries stair, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries stair, CC BY-SA 4.0.
