Coronach
/ˈkɒr.ə.næk/noun
A Scottish or Irish funeral lament or dirge.
Did you know?A coronach was not merely instrumental music: it could be a sung or cried lament performed at funerals, preserving communal memory through ritualized mourning.
Etymological Timeline
Old Irish
Old Irish
corannach
“A lament or mourning song; the precise deeper derivation is uncertain.”
Middle Irish
Middle Irish
coranach
“A lamentation or funeral wail.”
Medieval Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic
coranach
“A funeral lament or dirge.”
16th–17th Century
Scots
coronach
“A lament for the dead, especially one associated with Gaelic funeral custom.”
Modern English
English
coronach
“A funeral lament or dirge, often specifically Scottish or Irish in cultural reference.”