banshee

banshee
/ban"shee, ban shee"/, n.
(in Irish folklore) a spirit in the form of a wailing woman who appears to or is heard by members of a family as a sign that one of them is about to die.
Also, banshie.
[1765-75; < Ir bean sidhe woman of a fairy mound; see SÍDH]

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▪ Celtic folklore
Irish  Bean Sidhe , Scots Gaelic  Ban Sith 

      (“woman of the fairies”) supernatural being in Irish and other Celtic folklore whose mournful “keening,” or wailing screaming or lamentation, at night was believed to foretell the death of a member of the family of the person who heard the spirit. In Ireland banshees were believed to warn only families of pure Irish descent. The Welsh counterpart, the gwrach y Rhibyn (“witch of Rhibyn”), visited only families of old Welsh stock.

      The Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott mentioned belief in a kind of banshee or household spirit in certain Highland families (Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft, 1830).

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  • Banshee — Ban shee, Banshie Ban shie, n. [Gael. bean shith fairy; Gael. & Ir. bean woman + Gael. sith fairy.] (Celtic Folklore) A supernatural being supposed to warn a family of the approaching death of one of its members, by wailing or singing in a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • banshee — index phantom Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • banshee — 1771, from phonetic spelling of Ir. bean sidhe female of the Elves, from bean woman (from PIE *gwen ; see QUEEN (Cf. queen)) + sidhe, from sith fairy or sid fairy mound. Specifically, one who calls to the spirits of the dead …   Etymology dictionary

  • banshee — ► NOUN ▪ (in Irish legend) a female spirit whose wailing warns of a death in a house. ORIGIN from Old Irish ben síde woman of the fairies …   English terms dictionary

  • banshee — or banshie [ban′shē] n. [Ir bean sidhe < bean, woman (see GYNO ) + sith, fairy] Celt. Folklore a female spirit believed to wail outside a house as a warning that a death will occur soon in the family …   English World dictionary

  • Banshee — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Banshee (homonymie). Banshee, illustration de W.H. Brooke pour les Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland de Thomas Crofton Croker, 1825. La banshee …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Banshee — У этого термина существуют и другие значения, см. Banshee (значения). Banshee …   Википедия

  • Banshee — The banshee (IPAEng|ˈbænʃiː), from the Irish bean sí ( woman of the or woman of the fairy mounds ) is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. Her Scottish counterpart is the bean… …   Wikipedia

  • Banshee — Die Bunworth Banshee, Illustration in Thomas Crofton Crokers Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825) Eine Banshee ([ˈbʲan ˈʃiː], vom irisch gälischen bean sí: „Frau von den Feen“, „Frau aus dem Feenreich“ oder auch „Geistfrau“ …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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