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leprechaun
(redirected from leprechaunish)

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
lep·re·chaun  (lpr-kn, -kôn)
n.
One of a race of elves in Irish folklore who can reveal hidden treasure to those who catch them.

[Irish Gaelic luprachán, alteration of Middle Irish luchrupán, from Old Irish luchorpán : luchorp (lú-, small; see legwh- in Indo-European roots + corp, body from Latin corpus; see kwrep- in Indo-European roots) + -án, diminutive suff.]

lepre·chaunish adj.
Word History: Nothing seems more Irish than the leprechaun; yet hiding within the word leprechaun is a word from another language entirely. If we look back beyond Modern Irish Gaelic luprachán and Middle Irish luchrupán to Old Irish luchorpán, we can see the connection. Luchorpán is a compound of Old Irish lú, meaning "small," and the Old Irish word corp, "body." Corp is borrowed from Latin corpus (which we know from habeas corpus). Here is a piece of evidence attesting to the deep influence of Church Latin on the Irish language. Although the word is old in Irish it is fairly new in English, being first recorded in 1604.

leprechaun [ˈlɛprəˌkɔːn]
n
(Myth & Legend / European Myth & Legend) (in Irish folklore) a mischievous elf, often believed to have a treasure hoard
[from Irish Gaelic leipreachān, from Middle Irish lūchorpān, from small + corp body, from Latin corpus body]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.leprechaunleprechaun - a mischievous elf in Irish folklore
elf, gremlin, imp, pixie, pixy, hob, brownie - (folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous

leprechaun
noun pixie, fairy, elf, brownie, hob, puck, imp, sprite a wicked, jokey leprechaun
Translations
leprechaun [ˈleprəkɔːn] N (Irl) → duende m
leprechaun
nGnom m, → Kobold m


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Southern Comfort finds its emotional core in two relationships that reorient our notions of gender identity: Eads's love for Lola Cola, a male-to-female transsexual with a Betty Boop naughtiness and an early Streisand wig, and the father-son bond that evolved between Eads and Maxwell, a leprechaunish female-to-male transsexual with a protective hold on Eads that teetered between devoted and dysfunctional.
 
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