# seisear
## Irish
### Etymology

From Old Irish seisser.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈʃɛʃəɾˠ/

### Noun

seisear m (genitive singular seisir, nominative plural seisir) (triggers no mutation)
* group of six people
** 1894 March, Peadar Mac Fionnlaoigh, “An rí nach robh le fagháil bháis”, in Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge, volume 1:5, Dublin: Gaelic Union, pages 185–88:Bhí sé pósta ar sheisear ban i ndiaidh a chéile, acht do mharbhuigh sé alig an tsaoghal iad, ar eagla go mbeidheadh páistídhe ar bith aca.He was married to six wives, one after another, but he killed all-in-the-world of them for fear they should have any children at all.

#### Usage notes

* Generally used with the genitive plural when referring to human beings; also sometimes used with other nouns, especially if the things they denote are being personified.

#### Declension

bare forms
case
singular
plural
nominative
seisear
seisir
vocative
a sheisir
a sheiseara
genitive
seisir
seisear
dative
seisear
seisir
forms with the definite article
case
singular
plural
nominative
an seisear
na seisir
genitive
an tseisir
na seisear
dative
leis an seisear don seisear
leis na seisir :

#### Derived terms

* mórsheisear (“seven people”, literally “big six”)

#### Related terms

* sé (“six”) (non-personal)

### Mutation

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

### References

* “seisear”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024, retrieved 16 June 2024
* de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “six”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, retrieved 16 June 2024
* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “seisear”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN, retrieved 16 June 2024
* Ó Dónaill, Niall, Ua Maoileoin, Pádraig (1991) “seisear”, in An Foclóir Beag (in Irish), Dublin: An Gúm, retrieved 16 June 2024
* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “seisser”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language, retrieved 16 June 2024

## Scottish Gaelic
### Etymology

From Old Irish seisser.

### Pronunciation

* (Lewis) IPA: /ˈʃeʃəɾ/

### Noun

seisear m (genitive singular seiseir, plural seisearan)
* (Lewis) six
    Synonym: sianar

#### Usage notes

* Only used about persons (cf numerical noun).
* Following noun is in the genitive:
    seisear bhalach ― six boys
* Alternatively, de and the dative are used:
    seisear de bhalaich ― six boys
* Prepositional pronouns used are those formed from de and aig
    an seisear dhiubh / aca ― the six of them
* Also used on its own:
    Bha seisear ann. ― There were six.

#### Related terms

* sia

### Mutation

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

### References

* ↑ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1940) A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. I: The dialects of the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap

### Further reading

* Edward Dwelly (1911) “seisear”, 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), “seisser”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language