farraige
/ˈfˠɑɾˠəɟə/feminine
The Irish word for sea is farraige or muir.
Meaning: body of water (noun)
Ways to say it
| Irish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| farraige | /ˈfˠɑɾˠəɟə/ /ˈfˠæɾˠəɟə/ |
feminine |
| muir | /mˠɪɾʲ/ /mˠiɾʲ/ |
feminine |
Both farraige and muir are used to refer to the sea as a body of water.
Which one should you use?
farraige is the common, everyday word for sea, whereas muir is often found in more poetic, literary or archaic contexts.
How does it change in a sentence?
farraige is a feminine noun. The plural form is na farraige.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈfˠɑɾˠəɟə/
Did you know?
- The word muir is shared with Welsh, where the word for sea is môr. This highlights a deep linguistic link between the Goidelic and Brittonic branches of Celtic languages.
- The word muir is a distant relative of the English word 'mere' and the Latin word mare. All these terms trace back to a single prehistoric root from Proto-Indo-European.
- Ancient Old Irish texts used fairrge as the precursor to the modern farraige, showing that the everyday word for sea has remained remarkably stable for over a millennium.
Examples in context
- Bainfidh an fharraige a cuid féin amach, beidh a cuid féin ag an bhfarraige.The sea will have its own, its share of tragedies.This sentence illustrates a metaphorical use of farraige regarding tragedies.
- D'imigh siad ag siúl cois an fharraige.They went for a walk by the sea.
Example conversation
Cian and Niamh are standing on a beach.
- CianAn bhfuil an farraige fuar?Is the sea cold?
- NiamhTá, ach tá sí go hálainn.Yes, but it is beautiful.
- CianAn mbeidh tú ag snámh sa farraige?Will you be swimming in the sea?
- NiamhNí bheidim, tá mé díreach ag féachaint.I won't be, I am just looking.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sea” translations and entries farraige, muir, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries farraige, muir, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
