Etymology Explorer › Old Irish

Where does “cáil” come from?

cáil (Old Irish) comes from Latin qualitas, from Ancient Greek ποιότης, from Ancient Greek -τής, from Ancient Greek πεῖρα, from Proto-Indo-European per-, from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós — passed , crossed.

Ancestry of “cáil”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinqualitasquality, property
2Ancient Greekποιότηςquality
3Ancient Greek-τήςAppended to verbs to form agent nouns
4Ancient Greekπεῖραtrial, experiment, attempt
5Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “cáil”

  • mórcháiliúil
  • cáiliúil
  • cáiliúlacht
  • cáil
  • cáiligh
  • cáilmheas
  • cáilíocht
  • cáilitheach
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →