Meanings
korrigan1
plural korrigans · alternative corrigan
- artsA long-haired nocturnal and often malevolent Breton fairy princess; such creatures considered collectively.
A continental Celtic female fairy called a corrigan, malevolent, sometimes seductive.
1945, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, HarperCollins, published 2019, →ISBN, page 92 more examples
The Korrigan, our authority further states, can predict the future, assume any form they please, move from place to place with the rapidity of thought, cure maladies by the aid of charms which they communicate to their favourites.
1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 431Like fairies in general the Korrigan steal children, against which the remedy usually employed is, to place the child under the protection of the Virgin, by putting a rosary or a scapulary about its neck.
1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 432
Korrigan2
Origin
korrigan · noun
- Bretonkorrigan
- Englishkorrigan
Borrowed from Breton korrigan, from korr (“dwarf”) + -ig (diminutive suffix) + -an (hypocoristic suffix).
More words from Breton
Full word history & related roots →Korrigan · proper noun
Breton surname meaning "little dwarf," from korrigan.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
korrigan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/korrigan
“korrigan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/korrigan. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “korrigan,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/korrigan.
Source: korrigan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.