Erse

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Either of the Gaelic languages of Ireland and Scotland. dated, offensive, sometimes, uncountable

    "Two points which appeal to the writer are that the stations of origin and of destination are printed (in Erse and English) once only and then are summarised at the foot, [...]. [...] Clar Chloinne Mhuiris is the Erse original of Claremorris, and Dublin appears as Baile Atha Cliath."

  2. 2
    any of several related languages of the Celts in Ireland and Scotland wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Connected with Ireland or the Highlands of Scotland, or to the Gaelic languages spoken in those places. dated, not-comparable, offensive, sometimes

Example

More examples

"Two points which appeal to the writer are that the stations of origin and of destination are printed (in Erse and English) once only and then are summarised at the foot, [...]. [...] Clar Chloinne Mhuiris is the Erse original of Claremorris, and Dublin appears as Baile Atha Cliath."

Etymology

From Scots Erse (“Irish”), from earlier Ersche, Ersch, a contraction of Erisch, Erische (“Irish”), from Middle English Erische, Irische, Irisch (“Irish”). Doublet of Irish. Compare also Scots Irisch.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.