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IRISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

ar.

on

2 characters1 syllables approx.Gaeilge language

Meaning & usage

prep/ɛɾʲ/

  1. on

    with-dative

  2. Used with a variety of nouns to indicate feelings and minor medical conditions

    with-dative
    Tá áthas orm.
    Tá ocras orm.

  3. Used with a verbal noun to indicate a state

    with-dative
    ar crith
    ar foluain

  4. upon (with a verbal noun plus personal form of do indicating the subject of the verb)

    with-dative
    ar éirí dom

  5. upon (with a (“his, her, their”)—indicating the subject of an intransitive verb or the object of a transitive verb—plus verbal noun to indicate completion of an action)

    with-dative
    ar a theacht / arna theacht
    ar a chríochnú dom / arna chríochnú dom

  6. preposition used with certain ambitransitive verbs in order to make them transitive

    with-dative
    Bhí sé ag amharc air tríd an bhfuinneog.
    Féach ar stair.

  7. must, have to

    with-dative
    Bhí orainn anailís a dhéanamh ar bhlúirí a bhí bainte as téacs.
Where this word comes from

From a conflation of three Old Irish prepositions: # ar (“for”) (triggering lenition), from Proto-Celtic *ɸare (“in front of”), from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥h₂i. Cognates include Ancient Greek παρά (pará, “beside”) and English fore. # for (“on”) (triggering no mutation), from Proto-Celtic *uɸer (“over, on”) (compare Welsh ar, Breton war), from Proto-Indo-European *upér (compare Latin super, Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér), Old English ofer). # íar (“after”) (triggering eclipsis), from Proto-Celtic *eɸirom (“after, behind”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi. Cognates include Manx er and Scottish Gaelic air. The pronunciation is taken from the third-person singular masculine inflected form air, although the spellings remain distinct in the standard language.

verb

  1. said, says

    emphatic · usually
    “Tar isteach,” ar seisean.
    “Ní thuigim,” ar sise.
Where this word comes from

From Middle Irish ol, from Old Irish ol.

particle

  1. Introduces an indirect relative clause

    an chathaoir ar shuigh an gasúr air
    an cailín ar ól a cat an bainne
Where this word comes from

a + -r

particle

  1. Used to form direct and indirect questions

    Ar chuala tú mé?
    Níl a fhios agam ar chas sé an t-amhrán.

  2. Used to form direct and indirect copular questions; used before consonants

    Ar mhúinteoir tú?
Where this word comes from

an + -r

particle

  1. Introduces an indirect relative clause; present/future tense

    an fear ar múinteoir a mhac
    an fear ar iascaire a mhac

  2. Introduces an indirect relative clause; past/conditional tense

    an fear ar mhúinteoir a mhac

  3. Introduces a direct or indirect interrogative; past/conditional tense

    Ar mhaith leat cupán tae?
    Níl a fhios agam ar mhaith léi cupán tae.
Where this word comes from

an + -r

pron

  1. all that, whatever

    Sin ar chonnaic mé ann.
    Ar thuig tú ar canadh?
Where this word comes from

a + -r

noun

  1. verbal noun of air (“plough”)

    form-of · literary · masculine · noun-from-verb

  2. tillage

    literary · masculine
Where this word comes from

Old Irish ar (“ploughing, ploughed land”), verbal noun of airid (“to plough”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.