uinneag

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish fuindeóc, from Old Norse vindauga (literally “wind's eye”). Cognate with Scots winnock, English window, all from the same Old Norse source.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɯɲak/; (Lewis) [ˈɨ̃ɲak]

Noun

uinneag f (genitive singular uinneige, nominative plural uinneagan)

1. (architecture) window

   Synonym: (archaic) feinistear

   dùin an uinneag! ― close the window!

   saoil an dùin thu an uinneag? ― would you please close the window? (literally, “I wonder if you would close the window”)

   a' tighinn air an uinneig ― coming through the window (i.e. climbing through it while open)

   a' tighinn tron uinneig ― coming through the window (i.e. crashing through it while closed)

   a' gearradh a-mach uinneagan ― cutting out windows

2. (architecture, obsolete) recess in the wall of a kitchen used as a repository for miscellaneous articles

Declension

Declension of uinneag (class IIa feminine noun)

indefinite
	singular	plural
nominative	uinneag	uinneagan
genitive	uinneige, uinneig	uinneag
dative	uinneig	uinneagan; uinneagaibh1
definite
	singular	plural
nominative	(an) uinneag	(na) h-uinneagan
genitive	(na) h-uinneige, h-uinneig	(nan) uinneag
dative	(an) uinneig	(na) h-uinneagan; h-uinneagaibh1
vocative	uinneag	uinneaga

¹ archaic or poetic form

Derived terms

• dall-uinneag (“square cavity used as a shelf in the wall of a room”)
• far-uinneag, tar-uinneag (“lattice, casement”)
• for-uinneag (“balcony; lattice; window-shutter”)
• lìon-uinneag (“lattice”)
• oir uinneige, sòla uinneige (“windowsill”)
• uinneag bàta (“porthole”)
• uinneag bhannach (“casement window”)
• uinneag cearcaill (“bay window”)
• uinneag chrochte (“sash window”)
• uinneag còmhlaidh (“swivel window”)
• uinneag dà-ghlainne, dà-ghlainneach (“double-glazed window”)
• uinneag mullaich (“dormer-window”)

Mutation

Mutation of uinneag

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
uinneag	n-uinneag	h-uinneag	t-uinneag

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

References

• Edward Dwelly (1911), “uinneag”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “fuindeóc”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language