séabra
/ˈʃeːbˠɾˠə/
The Irish word for zebra is séabra.
séabra refers to the African animal.
Meaning: African animal (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈʃeːbˠɾˠə/
Did you know?
- The Irish word séabra is a distant relative of the English word 'ferocious'. Both come from the Latin ferus meaning 'wild'.
- In Irish grammar, nouns like séabra can change their initial letter when used after certain words, a feature called initial mutation that does not exist in English.
- Despite the 's' at the start of séabra, the word is pronounced with a 'sh' sound, similar to the English word 'shell'.
Examples in context
- An bhfuil séabra sa zoo seo?Is there a zebra in this zoo?
- Chonaic mé séabra sa leabhar.I saw a zebra in the book.
Example conversation
Aoife and Cathal are looking at animals at the zoo.
- AoifeCathal, féach ar an séabra sin!Cathal, look at that zebra!
- CathalTá sé go hálainn, a Aoife.It is beautiful, Aoife.
- AoifeIs é an séabra an ainmhithe is fearr liom.The zebra is my favorite animal.
- CathalIs maith liom iad freisin.I like them too.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “zebra” translations and entries séabra, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries séabra, CC BY-SA 4.0.
