Meanings
alternative Fianna Fail
- A conservative Irish political party founded in the 1920s.
I dreamt that Ruairi Quinn was smokin' marijuana in the Dail. Barry Desmond handing Frenchies out to scuts in Fianna Fail.
1985, “Delerium Tremens” (track 2), in Ordinary Man, performed by Christy Moore1 more example
Ireland’s largest party, Fianna Fáil, has said it will not consider going into government with Sinn Féin, a decision likely to prevent the leftwing nationalists from entering power for the first time.
2020 February 13, “Ireland: Fianna Fáil rules out coalition with Sinn Féin”, in The Guardian, sourced from Reuters, →ISSN
Origin
- Irishfianna
- IrishFianna Fáil
- EnglishFianna Fáil
Unadapted borrowing from Irish Fianna Fáil. From Irish fianna, plural of fiann (“warrior”), and Fáil, genitive of Fál (a legendary name of Ireland); cf. Old Irish fál. The original meaning is thus “warriors of Fál”, but the phrase is traditionally translated as “soldiers of destiny”.
More words from Irish
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Fianna Fáil. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Fianna%20F%C3%A1il
“Fianna Fáil.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Fianna%20F%C3%A1il. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Fianna Fáil,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Fianna%20F%C3%A1il.
Source: Fianna Fáil on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.