ciar

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish cíar (“dark”), from Proto-Celtic *keiros, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃i-, extension of *(s)ḱeh₃- (“grey, dark”). Further cognates are Old Novgorodian х҄ѣрь (xʹěrĭ, “gray cloth”) and Old English hār (“grey-haired”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ciəɾˠ/
• Homophone: cíor (one pronunciation of cíor)

Adjective

ciar (genitive singular masculine céir, genitive singular feminine céire, plural ciara, comparative céire)

1. swarthy, dark

Declension

Declension of ciar

Positive	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	strong noun	weak noun
nominative	ciar	chiar	ciara; chiara2
vocative	chéir		ciara
genitive		céire	ciara	ciar
dative	ciar; chiar1	chiar; chéir (archaic)	ciara; chiara2
Comparative	níos céire
Superlative	is céire

¹ When the preceding noun is lenited and governed by the definite article.
² When the preceding noun ends in a slender consonant.

Derived terms

• ciardhubh (“jet black, sable”)
• ciaróg (“beetle”)

Related terms

• Ciarán

Mutation

Mutated forms of ciar

radical	lenition	eclipsis
ciar	chiar	gciar

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “ciar”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Latin

Verb

ciar

1. first-person singular future passive indicative of ciō

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish cíar (“dark”), from Proto-Celtic *keiros, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃i-, extension of *(s)ḱeh₃- (“grey, dark”). Further cognates are Old Novgorodian х҄ѣрь (xʹěrĭ, “gray cloth”) and Old English hār (“grey-haired”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /cʰiaɾ/

Adjective

ciar (comparative nas cèire / na bu chèire)

1. swarthy, dark, dun, dusky
2. gloomy, depressed.

Related terms

• ciarag

Mutation

Mutation of ciar

radical	lenition
ciar	chiar

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Spanish

Etymology

Cognate with French scier, Italian s(c)iare, both with the same sense. Further origin unknown. According to Roberts, from Old Spanish cía (“thighbone”), from Latin scias, from Ancient Greek ἰσχιας (iskhias, “sciatic”), from ἰσχίον (iskhíon, “hip”); referring to the use of this bone when rowing. Others consider it onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθjaɾ/ [ˈθjaɾ] (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
• IPA^(key): /ˈsjaɾ/ [ˈsjaɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: ciar

Verb

ciar (first-person singular present cío, first-person singular preterite cie, past participle ciado)

1. (intransitive) to back water

Conjugation

    Conjugation of ciar (i-í alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			ciar
gerund			ciando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		ciado		ciada
		plural		ciados		ciadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	cío	cíastú ciasvos	cía	ciamos	ciais	cían
	imperfect	ciaba	ciabas	ciaba	ciábamos	ciabais	ciaban
	preterite	cie	ciaste	cio	ciamos	ciasteis	ciaron
	future	ciaré	ciarás	ciará	ciaremos	ciaréis	ciarán
	conditional	ciaría	ciarías	ciaría	ciaríamos	ciaríais	ciarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	cíe	cíestú ciesvos2	cíe	ciemos	cieis	cíen
	imperfect (ra)	ciara	ciaras	ciara	ciáramos	ciarais	ciaran
	imperfect (se)	ciase	ciases	ciase	ciásemos	ciaseis	ciasen
	future1	ciare	ciares	ciare	ciáremos	ciareis	ciaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		cíatú ciavos	cíe	ciemos	ciad	cíen
	negative		no cíes	no cíe	no ciemos	no cieis	no cíen

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

Further reading

• “ciar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026