leprechaun
nounUK /ˈlɛpɹəkɔːn/ · US /ˈlɛpɹəˌkɔn/
Etymology From Irish leipreachán, luprachán, from Middle Irish luchrupán, from Old Irish luchorpán. See also Irish lucharachán. The word's further etymology is disputed; it is traditionally explained as a compound containing lú (“small”, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ-) + corp (“body”, which is from Latin corpus). However, an alternative suggestion is that it is a derivative of Latin Lupercī (“priests of Lupercus”), who were misinterpreted as an antediluvian species by medieval Irish scholars. Suffix may have been assimilated to Irish -achán (“diminutive”), compare derivation of clurichaun.
Arts, Folklore, History, Human sciences, Literature, Media, Publishing, Sciences Ireland A type of diminutive, solitary fairy or sprite, traditionally depicted as a small, bearded man wearing a green coat and hat, often found repairing a single shoe; they typically possess hidden treasure, such as a pot of gold hidden at the end of a rainbow, and can be forced to reveal its location if captured.
- So they wint, an' Tom held the Leprechaun fast in his hand, an' nivir tuk his eyes frum aff uv him, though they had to crass hidges an' ditches, an' a cruked bit uv a bog (fur the Leprechaun seemed, out o' pure mischief, to pick out the hardest and most conthrairy way), till at last they come to a grate field all full o' bolyawn buies, an' the Leprechaun pointed to a big bolyawn, an' sez he, "Dig undher that bolyawn, an' you'll git a crock chuck full o' goulden guineas."1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 375:
- Do you not catch the tiny clamour, / Busy click of an elfin hammer, / Voice of the leprechaun singing shrill, / As he merrily plies his trade?1888, William Allingham, “The Lepracaun; or Fairy Shoemaker”, in William Butler Yeats, editor, Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, pages 86–87:
- Derived terms
- aleprechaunist, leprechaunesque, leprechauness, leprechaunic, leprechaunish, leprechaunism, leprechaunology, leprechauny, leprechology