Samhain

Borrowed from Irish Samhain.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaʊ.wən/, /ˈsaʊ.wɪn/
• IPA^(key): (proscribed spelling pronunciation) /ˈsæm.heɪn/

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Samhain

1. A holiday, falling on the night of 31 October to 1 November, celebrated by the ancient Celts and by modern neo-pagans as the beginning of winter and the new year, and a time during which the spirits of the dead could return to the earth.
   • 1994, Edain McCoy, “Appendix Three: Outline for Ritual Construction”, in A Witch’s Guide to Faery Folk: How to Work with the Elemental World: […], St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publishers, published 2004 (13th printing), →ISBN, page 354:

     Invite, but never command, friendly spirits, faeries, or elementals to join you as you wish. In some traditions it is common to invite ancestors to join you, especially during the dark days from Samhain to Imbolg when it is believed that the portal between our dimensions is at its thinnest.

   • 2012 October 28, David DiSalvo, “Are You or Someone You Know Samhainophobic?”, in Forbes‎^[1], archived from the original on 17 October 2014:

     The root word takes us back to the ancient Celts who held a ceremony called Samhain in order to honor the harvest cycle. Each October 31, the harvest would end, and the Irish would gather to kill livestock. Often, they would throw the animal’s bones onto a roaring bonfire. The people who attended Samhain believed that the dead made their presence known during the festival, and that they must be appeased or else they would cause trouble and hardship for the townspeople.

• Halloween
• November Eve

• (Wiccan Sabbats) Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Midsummer, Lughnasadh, Mabon ^{(Category: en:Wicca)}

• anhimas

From Old Irish Samain (“Halloween”),^[1] from Proto-Celtic *Samonyos (compare Gaulish samoni-) or a genitive *samonis,^[2] either from Proto-Indo-European *smH-on- (“together; reunion, assembly”) (compare Old High German saman (“together”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰 (samana, “together, in common”), Sanskrit समन (samaná, “together”), सम् (sám, “with”), Avestan 𐬵𐬀 (ha), 𐬵𐬀𐬨 (ham, “together”)), from the root *sem- (“together, whole”), or alternatively from the same element found in the compound *kentusamonyos (“beginning of summer”), a derivation from Proto-Celtic *samos (“summer”) (compare Old Irish sam (“summer”), Welsh haf (“summer”)) from Proto-Indo-European *sm̥h₂ós (“summer”) < *semh₂-.

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /sˠɑ̃u(ə)nʲ/^[3]
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /sˠaunʲ/, /ˈsˠɑvˠənʲ/^[4]
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈsˠãuwənʲ/^[5]

Samhain f (genitive singular Samhna, nominative plural Samhnacha)

1. November
   • 21 January 1919, Constitution of Dáil Éireann, Fourth Article

     Beidh an tAireach freagarthach don Dáil san airgead a gheobhfar mar sin agus leagfaidh sé cúntaisí mionscrúduighthe ar chaitheamh an airgid fé bhrághaid na Dála dhá uair sa bhliadhain – um Shamhain is um Bealtaine.

     The Ministry shall be answerable to the Dáil for such moneys, and the accounts shall be audited with regard to the spending of money for the Dáil twice yearly – in November and May.

   • 18 September 2012, Foinse, Deir Mitt Romney go bhfuil vótálaithe Obama 'ag brath ar an rialtas' i bhfíseán a sceitheadh

     Is cosúil go bhfuil Romney ag labhairt le grúpa deontóirí saibhre níos luaithe i mbliana san fhíseán agus é ag labhairt go hoscailte faoina straitéis le díriú ar an bpíosa beag den daonra nach bhfuil cinneadh déanta acu go fóill i dtaobh toghchán na Samhna ...

     Romney appears to be talking to a group of rich donors earlier this year in the video, and he's talking openly about the strategy of targeting the small portion of the population who still haven't made a decision about November's election ...

2. Samhain (Celtic festival); (more generally) the first of November.
   • 1906, E. C. Quiggin, “Áindrías an Ime”, in A Dialect of Donegal: Being the Speech of Meenawannia in the Parish of Glenties, page 196:

     Seachtmhain roimhe Shamhain chuaidh an Seónstanach siar ⁊ seacht ngearráin ⁊ péire cliabh air ghach gearrán fá choinne a chuid ime.

     A week before Samhain, Johnstone went back with seven geldings and a pair of panniers on each gelding for his butter.

• Mí na Samhna (“Month of November”)
• Oíche Shamhna f (“Halloween”)
• Sean-Samhain

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1927), “Saṁain”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla [Irish and English Dictionary], 2nd edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 937; reprinted with additions 1996, →ISBN
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “Samhain”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959), “Samhain”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “Samhain”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2026

• Samhainn

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaũ.iɲ/

Samhain f (genitive Samhna)

1. (with article: an t-Samhain) November
2. All Saints' Day
3. All Souls' Day

• Oidhche Shamhna
• Samh (abbreviation)
• samhnag (“bonfire or torch used at Halloween”)
• samhnair (“trick-or-treater”)