Fáilte
Welcome. Used both as a noun ('a fáilte was waiting for us') and as a greeting on its own. Almost universally encountered in the construction 'céad míle fáilte' - a hundred thousand welcomes - the standard Irish welcome-greeting now found on signs, pubs, and tourist boards.
Etymology
From Old Irish 'fáilte', from Proto-Celtic 'wāletiyā', ultimately Proto-Indo-European 'welh₁-' meaning to wish or to will. Cognate with Old English 'willan' (to wish) and Latin 'volō' (I want). The semantic journey is straightforward: from wanting to welcoming. The fada on the 'á' marks the long vowel that distinguishes Irish pronunciation from any anglicised version.
In a sentence
"Fáilte, fáilte - come in out of the rain and warm yourself."
Historical notes
Fáilte is the most-printed Irish word in the English-speaking world. The phrase 'céad míle fáilte' - 'a hundred thousand welcomes' - hangs on tourist-board signs at every Irish port and airport and has been borrowed by the Irish state agency Fáilte Ireland as its operating name. The Cork pronunciation /ˈfɔːltʃə/ is the closest the average non-Irish-speaker comes to the original; the anglicisation /ˈfɔːlteɪ/ is heard but inauthentic.
Sources
- Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla (Ó Dónaill), entry fáilte. · dictionary