First recorded in 1625–35; Latin Hiberni(a) “Ireland” + -an
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The same conditions apply for the following league game at home to Hibernian and for a League Cup tie on the weekend of 15/16 August.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
The Dane led the Scottish Premiership club to a fourth-placed finish with victory at Hibernian last Saturday, securing European football for the Lanarkshire side.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
They are known as Hibs fans—and they support Hibernian, the Scottish capital’s other major team.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
With Rangers held to a 2-2 draw at bottom club Livingston and defending champions Celtic beaten at home by Hibernian on Sunday, Hearts boss Derek McInnes must have been watching on with a big grin.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2026
At the cold indifference manifested by the Hibernian ladies, at this period, we were perfectly amazed.
From Secret History of the Court of England, from the Accession of George the Third to the Death of George the Fourth, Volume II (of 2) Including, Among Other Important Matters, Full Particulars of the Mysterious Death of the Princess Charlotte by Hamilton, Lady Anne
Not because we used to be called dundee hibernian but because it will be another club to have won the Scottish Cup after Dundee in 1910.
From BBC ● May 19, 2012
There are lately hibernian, and german societies, who do all in their power, to mitigate the severity of these laws, and render their countrymen, during their servitude, as comfortable as possible.
From Travels in the United States of America Commencing in the Year 1793, and Ending in 1797. With the Author's Journals of his Two Voyages Across the Atlantic. by Priest, William
An hibernian musician, who, like myself, was present for the first time at this concert of antimusic, exclaimed, "By Jasus but they stop out of tune to a nicety!"
From Travels in the United States of America Commencing in the Year 1793, and Ending in 1797. With the Author's Journals of his Two Voyages Across the Atlantic. by Priest, William
But the old, simpler order of things had suffered more wrenches than one in this acrid congressional campaign, and the warring factions could unite only on the hibernian proposition that union was impossible.
From The Henchman by Luther, Mark Lee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
