{"id":9011,"date":"2025-10-24T15:04:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/?p=9011"},"modified":"2025-10-24T15:04:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:04:26","slug":"pithy-marrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/2025\/10\/24\/pithy-marrow\/","title":{"rendered":"Pithy Marrow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Words for <strong>bone marrow<\/strong>, <strong>pith<\/strong> and related things in Celtic languages.<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/fotoosvanrobin\/15718482390\/in\/photolist-iZM4gW-iZLdFi-pWZkc5-93Ns5T-26RxTT4-nCCBMC-dH36nb-hscAsY-9busRm-7BfhKa-7Bj6ZA-7HZ1Fy-5zJdi-4HNEmo-9dWW32-aM7FDT-bTrYzv-6ueSho-hfPjM-6vrndx-5wpAhq-871VR2-2neBdCj-nFxYRP-W3AxgG-8bSzEe-9j32bG-nFaGK-7pWQhW-o8fxEE-9xw4R9-Yqj6gK-5zJde-2hpUw1F-nWnkfj-7copPP-2iVwYoz-pGSPcm-6G4S6G-KNWmYu-9m33r1-f3nasn-bsLG5M-9uHS2U-4p3QE7-7sR4Zt-RRXqqe-7tsjnS-quAunc-hcTtNK\" title=\"Roasted Bone Marrow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/7501\/15718482390_83617c4932_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"364\" alt=\"Roasted Bone Marrow\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Words marked with a * are reconstructions. <\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Proto-Celtic<\/th>\n<td><strong>*smerus<\/strong> = marrow<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Irish (Go\u00eddelc)<\/th>\n<td><strong>smir<\/strong> = marrow<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>smir, smiur<\/strong> = marrow<br \/>\n<strong>smirammair<\/strong> = marrow-tub, apparently a bath of marrow from crushed bones used in the treatment of wounded warriors<br \/>\n<strong>smirchomairt<\/strong> = marrow-mash, a mixture or extract of pounded marrow<br \/>\n<strong>smirde<\/strong> = belonging to the marrow<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Irish (Gaeilge)<\/th>\n<td><strong>smior<\/strong> [\u02c8s\u02e0m\u02b2\u026a\u027e\u02e0 \/ \u02c8s\u02e0m\u02b2\u025b\u027e\u02b2] = marrow, pith, essential part, quintessence<br \/>\n<strong>smior\u00fail<\/strong> = marrowy, medullary, lively, spirited, manly<br \/>\n<strong>smior\u00falacht<\/strong> = liveliness, spiritedness, manliness<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Scottish Gaelic (G\u00e0idhlig)<\/th>\n<td><strong>smior<\/strong> [smir] = marrow, pith, best part (of anything), the stuff of, stamina, vigour<br \/>\n<strong>smior cn\u00e0mha<\/strong> = bone marrow<br \/>\n<strong>smiorach<\/strong> [smir\u0259x] = lively person, lad, young man; pertaining to or abounding in marrow, pithy<br \/>\n<strong>smiorail<\/strong> [smiral] = mettlesome, plucky, hardy, vigorous, smart<br \/>\n<strong>smioralachd<\/strong> [smir\u0259l\u032a\u02e0\u0259xg] = briskness, liveliness, courage, manliness<br \/>\n<strong>smiorsadh<\/strong> [smir\u032a\u02e0s\u0259\u0263] = vim, pep<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Manx (Gaelg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>smuir<\/strong> = marrow, medulla<br \/>\n<strong>smuirr<\/strong> = fat, marrow<br \/>\n<strong>smuiragh<\/strong> = greasy, marrowy<br \/>\n<strong>smuirragh<\/strong> = marrowy, medullary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Proto-Brythonic<\/th>\n<td><strong>*mer<\/strong> = marrow (?)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Welsh (Kymraec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>m\u00ear, mer<\/strong> = (bone) marrow, fibers or pith (of plant), sap, hemp, best or essential part, quintessence, essence, soul, heart, centre, middle, depth, (source of) strength<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Welsh (Cymraeg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>m\u00ear<\/strong> [me\u02d0r] = (bone) marrow, fibers or pith (of plant), sap, hemp, best or essential part, quintessence, essence, soul, heart, centre, middle, depth, (source of) strength<br \/>\n<strong>meraidd<\/strong> = marrowy, medullar(y),<br \/>\n<strong>merbys<\/strong> = marrowfat peas<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Cornish (Cernewec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>maru<\/strong> = marrow<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Cornish (Kernewek)<\/th>\n<td><strong>mer<\/strong> = marrow<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Breton (Brezonec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>mel<\/strong> = marrow<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Breton (Brezhoneg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>mel<\/strong> [me\u02d0l] = marrow, sap<br \/>\n<strong>mel-penn<\/strong> = brain<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Etymology<\/strong>: from Proto-Indo-European <em>*sm\u00e9rus<\/em> (grease), from <em>*smer-<\/em> (to anoint) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic\/smerus\">source<\/a>]. Words from the same roots include <strong>medulla<\/strong> (pith, marrow) and <strong>smear<\/strong> in English, <strong>moelle<\/strong> (marrow, pith, spinal cord) in French, <strong>smeer<\/strong> (smear) in Dutch, <strong>sm\u00f6r<\/strong> (butter) in Swedish [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European\/sm%C3%A9rus\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Sources: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/\">Wiktionary<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/embed\/EtymologicalDictionaryOfProtoCeltic\">Etymological Dictionary Of Proto Celtic<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk\/sengoidelc\/duil-belrai\/english.html\">In D\u00fail B\u00e9lrai English &#8211; Old Irish glossary<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/dil.ie\/\">eDIL &#8211; Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teanglann.ie\/en\/fgb\/ceann\">Teanglann.ie<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.faclair.com\/\">Am Faclair Beag<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikisource.org\/wiki\/An_Etymological_Dictionary_of_the_Gaelic_Language\">An etymological dictionary of the Gaelic language<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/dictionaryq.com\/gaelg\/\">Fockleyreen: Manx &#8211; English Dictionary<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mannin.info\/Mannin\/fockleyr\/m2e.php\">Online Manx Dictionary<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/corpus.gaelg.im\/\">Gaelg Corpus<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/geiriadur.ac.uk\/gpc\/gpc.html\">Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/lexiconcornubrit00willuoft\/page\/n5\/mode\/2up\">Lexicon cornu-britannicum : a dictionary of the ancient Celtic language of Cornwall<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cornishdictionary.org.uk\/\">Gerlyver Kernewek<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/devri.bzh\/\">Devri : Le dictionaire diachronique du breton<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/geriafurch.bzh\/fr\">Geriafurch<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brezhoneg.bzh\/87-termofis.htm\">TermOfis<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Words for bone marrow, pith and related things in Celtic languages. Words marked with a * are reconstructions. Proto-Celtic *smerus = marrow Old Irish (Go\u00eddelc) smir = marrow Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg) smir, smiur = marrow smirammair = marrow-tub, apparently a bath of marrow from crushed bones used in the treatment of wounded warriors smirchomairt = [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,16,26,81,44,21,3,22,5,6,37,7,27,10,41,11,12,23,64,18,14],"tags":[52,80,51,145,48,47,53,49,302,304,303,55,50],"class_list":["post-9011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjectives","category-breton","category-kernewek-cornish","category-dutch-nederlands","category-french","category-gaeilge-irish","category-language","category-gaelg-manx","category-middle-breton","category-middle-cornish","category-middle-irish","category-middle-welsh-kymraec","category-nouns","category-old-irish-goidelc","category-parts-of-the-body","category-proto-brythonic","category-proto-celtic","category-gaidhlig-scottish-gaelic","category-swedish-svenska","category-cymraeg-welsh","category-words","tag-breton","tag-celtic","tag-cornish","tag-etymology","tag-gaelic","tag-irish","tag-language","tag-manx","tag-marrow","tag-medulla","tag-pith","tag-scottish-gaelic","tag-welsh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9011"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9015,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9011\/revisions\/9015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}