airt

American  

[airt, eyrt] / ɛərt, eɪrt /

Scots airth

noun

1. a direction.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to point out the way; direct; guide.

airt British  

/ erθ, ert, ɛət, ɛəθ /

noun

1. a direction or point of the compass, esp the direction of the wind; quarter; region

---

Etymology

Origin of airt

1400–50; late Middle English ( Scots ) a ( i )rt < Scots Gaelic àird point, quarter of the compass; cognate with Greek árdis arrowhead. The borrowing of Scots airt from Scots Gaelic àird is exact since Scots Gaelic d is totally voiceless and àird sounds like English arch

Example Sentences

The 18th-century Irish noblewoman Eibhlin Dubh Ni Chonaill composed the great poem “Caoineadh Airt Ui Laoghaire” after her husband was murdered by a powerful British official.

From New York Times • Dec. 15, 2021

The following words have in Sco. a W. Scand. meaning or are not found in Danish: 73 Airt, to urge.

From Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch by Flom, George Tobias

The reign of Cormac Mac Airt is unquestionably the most celebrated of all our pagan monarchs.

From An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800 by Cusack, Mary Frances

Finn, in his old age, asked the hand of Grainné, the daughter of Cormac Mac Airt; but the lady being young, preferred a younger lover.

From An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800 by Cusack, Mary Frances

There was another phase of supernatural power, different from witchcraft, and which the devil granted to certain parties: this was called the Black Airt.

From Folk Lore Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within This Century by Napier, James