aicme

Irish

FWOTD – 9 April 2013

Etymology

From Old Irish aicme.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈacmʲə/

Noun

aicme f (genitive singular aicme, nominative plural aicmí)

1. genus
2. class (social grouping, based on job, wealth, etc.)
   • 1980, Díospóireachtaí párlaiminte: tuairisc oifigiúil (published in Ireland by the Oireachtas / Dáil), volume 319, page iv:

     […] cheart aire speisialta a thabhairt dóibh siúd ins an íseal aicme agus cinntiú go dtabharfai liúntais leasa shóisialaigh do dhaoine den tsórt sin a chuirfeadh ar a gcumas maireachtáil […]

     Special attention should be given to those in the low [i.e. poor / working] class and social welfare allowances [should be] given to such persons to enable them to survive.

   • 1998, Máirín Nic Eoin, B'ait Leo Bean, excerpted in The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, volume 5, Irish Women's Writing and Traditions (2002; →ISBN, Contemporary Writing, 1960-2001: Feminism, Culture and Critique in Irish, page 1567:

     Is é an fáth go samhlaíonn sé an idé-eolaíocht mar uirlis de chuid an Stáit ná gur tuigeadh dó go raibh an Stát ag feidhmiú thar ceann na haicme ceannais.

     The reason is that it envisages the ideology as a tool of the State, or that it understood that the State was acting on behalf of the ruling class.

3. family, tribe
4. set, clique
5. denomination (unit in a series of units of weight, money, etc.)
   • 1983, Faisnéis Ráithiuil - Banc Ceannais na hÉireann, published by the Central Bank of Ireland, page 72:

     Níor buaileadh í ach i mBaile Átha Cliath amháin agus níor buaileadh ach aicme amháin, an phingin airgid.

     It is minted only in Dublin and only one denomination is minted, the silver penny.

Declension

Declension of aicme

Fourth declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative aicme aicmí Vocative a aicme a aicmí Genitive aicme aicmí Dative aicme aicmí

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an aicme na haicmí Genitive na haicme na n-aicmí Dative leis an aicme don aicme leis na haicmí

Derived terms

• aicme speictreach (“spectral class”)
• aicmeach (“generic; class”, adjective)
• aicmigh (“classify”, verb)
• aicmíocht (“cliquishness, class distinction”)
• aicmiúil (“sectarian; cliquish”, adjective)
• anaicme (“bad breed”)
• fo-aicme (“subgenus, subclass; lesser group”)
• meánaicme (“middle class, bourgeoisie”)
• urlabhra aicme (“sociolect”)

 

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
aicme	n-aicme	haicme	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “aicme”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “aicme”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language