Dair

This article is about the letter. For other uses, see Dair (disambiguation).

This article contains Ogham text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Ogham letters.
Ogham letters
᚛ᚑᚌᚐᚋᚁᚂᚃᚓᚇᚐᚅ᚜
Aicme Beithe
᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚁᚂᚃᚄᚅ᚜ 		Aicme Muine
᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚋᚌᚎᚏ᚜
ᚁ [b] Beith ᚋ [m] Muin
ᚂ [l] Luis ᚌ [ɡ] Gort
ᚃ [w] Fearn ᚍ [ɡʷ] nGéadal
ᚄ [s] Sail ᚎ [st], [ts], [sw] Straif
ᚅ [n] Nion ᚏ [r] Ruis
Aicme hÚatha
᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚆᚇᚈᚉᚊ᚜ 		Aicme Ailme
᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚐᚑᚒᚓᚔ᚜
ᚆ [j] Uath ᚐ [a] Ailm
ᚇ [d] Dair ᚑ [o] Onn
ᚈ [t] Tinne ᚒ [u] Úr
ᚉ [k] Coll ᚓ [e] Eadhadh
ᚊ [kʷ] Ceirt ᚔ [i] Iodhadh
Forfeda
᚛ᚃᚑᚏᚃᚓᚇᚐ᚜
ᚕ [ea], [k], [x], [eo] Éabhadh
ᚖ [oi] Ór
ᚗ [ui] Uilleann
ᚘ [ia] Ifín
ᚙ [x], [ai] Eamhancholl
ᚚ [p] Peith

Dair is the Irish name of the seventh letter of the Ogham alphabet, ᚇ, meaning "oak". The Old Irish: dair (Early Old Irish: daur) is related to Welsh derw(en) and to Breton derv(enn). Its Proto-Indo-European root was *dóru ("tree"), possibly a deadjectival noun of *deru-, *drew- ("hard, firm, strong, solid"). Its phonetic value is [d].[1]

Dair forms the basis of some first names in Irish Gaelic such as Daire, Dara, Darragh and Daragh.

  1. ^ McManus, Damian (1991). A Guide to Ogam. Maynooth Monographs. Vol. 4. Co. Kildare, Ireland: An Sagart. p. 37. ISBN 1-870684-75-3. ISSN 0790-8806. This letter name clearly corresponds to Old Irish dair/daur, gen. daro 'oak-tree', Welsh derw(en) 'oak-tree(s)' from the root *deru-, whence the value /d/.