clurichaun
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
1
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A mischievous, potentially malicious fairy, akin to the leprechaun, that greatly loves drinking and tends to haunt breweries, pubs and wine cellars.
Example Sentences
- "The Cluricaune, called in Leinster Leprechaun, in Ulster Logheriman, seems a being peculiar to Ireland."
- "The Cluricaune possesses a knowledge of hidden treasures, but does not discover them till he is pressed to the utmost."
- "Some writers have supposed the Cluricaun to be another name of the same fairy, given him when he has laid aside his shoemaking at night and goes on the spree. The Cluricaun’s one occupation is robbing wine-cellars."
- "The residents of a house would leave offerings for the clurichaun, who sing in Gaelic with enchantingly beautiful voices. Related to leprechauns, clurichauns are house faeries who specialize in caring for and protecting wine and beer cellars."
- "2016, Keith B. Darrell, Flashbacks: Fangs & Fur, Book 1, Amber Book Company, unnumbered page, "Clurichauns are Dark Fae cousins of leprechauns," Aurae explained. "Unlike their Seelie Court cousins, the clurichauns drink to excess and are seldom sober. But despite always being drunk, the clurichauns are impeccably groomed and well-dressed... although they can be a bit surly.""
Etymology
From Irish clutharachán, from Irish cluthar (“sheltered, cosy; secretive”) + Irish -achán (“diminutive suffix”) (compare same suffix in Irish leipreachán and lucharachán (“leprechaun”)). William Butler Yeats, citing folklorist Nicholas O'Kearney, derives it from clobhair-ceann, from clobhair (“hunched, bent”) + ceann (“head”), but this lacks semantic plausibility.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: clutharachán, cluthar, -achán
Inflected Forms
clurichauns (plural)
cluracan (alternative)
cluracaun (alternative)
cluricaun (alternative)
cluricaune (alternative)
clúrachán (alternative)