The story
- Irish · derived from-achán“diminutive”
- Latin · derived fromLupercī“priests of Lupercus”
- Latin · derived fromcorpus
- Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₁lengʷʰ-
- Old Irish · derived fromluchorpán
- Middle Irish · derived fromluchrupán
- Irish · borrowed fromleipreachán
- English todayleprechaun
From Irish leipreachán, luprachán, from Middle Irish luchrupán, from Old Irish luchorpán. See also Irish lucharachán. The word's further etymology is disputed; it is traditionally explained as a compound containing lú (“small”, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ-) + corp (“body”, which is from Latin corpus). However, an alternative suggestion is that it is a derivative of Latin Lupercī (“priests of Lupercus”), who were misinterpreted as an antediluvian species by medieval Irish scholars. Suffix may have been assimilated to Irish -achán (“diminutive”), compare derivation of clurichaun.
Words from the same roots
Proto-Indo-European*h₁lengʷʰ- all →
lightlunglighteralightobliterate
Latincorpus all →
corpscorpuscorporalcorporifycorposantcorpotentoriumcorpus luteumcorpus vile
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.