/ˈɑbˠəɾʲ/, /ˈabˠəɾʲ/
OriginFrom Middle Irish at·beir, from Old Irish as·beir, from Proto-Celtic *exs- (compare Latin ex) + *bereti, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-.
See rá for the etymology of the verbal noun and past participle.
- to say, utter
“amhrán a rá” — to sing a song
“Abair leis é.” — Say it to him.
- to mean, refer to
“Ní tú a deirim.” — I don’t mean you; I’m not referring to you.
- say, suppose (to state for illustrative or approximate purposes)
“abair is nach mbeadh sé ann” — supposing he weren’t there
“fiche punt, abair” — twenty pounds, say
Formsdeir(analytic, present) · déarfaidh(analytic, future) · rá(noun-from-verb) · ráite(participle, past) · deirim(first-person, indicative, present, singular) · deir tú(indicative, present, second-person, singular) · deireann tú(indicative, present, second-person, singular) · deirir(indicative, present, second-person, singular) · deir sé(indicative, present, singular, third-person) · sí(indicative, present, singular, third-person) · deireann sé(indicative, present, singular, third-person) · deirimid(first-person, indicative, plural, present) · deir muid(first-person, indicative, plural, present) · deireann muid(first-person, indicative, plural, present) · deir sibh(indicative, plural, present, second-person) · deireann sibh(indicative, plural, present, second-person) · deir siad(indicative, plural, present, third-person) · deireann siad(indicative, plural, present, third-person) · deirid(indicative, plural, present, third-person) · a deir(error-unrecognized-form, present)