Sluagh
/sluːəx/noun
A host, multitude, or fairy host in Scottish Gaelic folklore.
Did you know?In Scottish folklore, the sluagh were feared as the unforgiven dead who flew like a sinister aerial host, and tradition said people shut their windows to keep them from entering the house.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Celtic
PCelt
*slogā
“a host, army, troop”
Old Irish
OIr
slóg
“an army, host, multitude”
Middle Irish
MIr
sluag
“a host, army, company”
Scottish Gaelic
Gd
sluagh
“a host, multitude; in folklore, a fairy host or host of the dead”
Modern English
English
sluagh
“a Scottish Gaelic loanword used for a fairy host or supernatural host”