Etymology

aire

A1I1R1E1

Today it means: A river in Yorkshire, mainly West Yorkshire, England, which flows past Leeds and gives its name to the Airedale. Full definition →

Proto-Celtic *is- ← Old Norse eyjar
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The story

  1. Old Norse · derived fromeyjar“islands”
  2. Proto-Celtic · derived from*is-
  3. English todayAire

Possibly from Proto-Brythonic; from Proto-Celtic *is- (from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eysh₂- (“to strengthen”)) + *–arā-. However, Old Norse eyjar (“islands”) has also been suggested.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.