adj o, ā.

(a) of creatures, etc. dumb, silent; of speech, stammering, inarticulate (?); murmurous: b.¤ ab eo quod est balbus, Corm. Y 146. b.¤ a balbo , O'Mulc. 120. ro sich breithir nad bu balbh `spoke an eloquent word', Blathm. 224. co mbreithir bailb, Rawl. 78b13 . osgar cach a gceird araile .i. is balbh cach a nealadhain a cheile, O'Curry 1606 ( 23 Q 6 5 a ). lethbhalb tengaid ┐ lethloisc neolais (of an unskilled pleader), 2271 ( Eg. 88, 20b ). fili b.¤ ra throisc aicce ar co tissed a erlabra dó, LL 371c5 . biid balba mar bad marbu sib, YBL 154a42 . na hidla bódra balba, PH 967. a chlanna Lir / . . . go nGaoidheilg mbailb murmurous, Atlantis iv 122.25 . romescad a menma coma balba buaidirthi na briathra rolabrad, TTebe 3368 . ag dúilibh balbha, DDána 110.23 . maidhm oirdhreic na mbéimeann mbalbh (`soundless blows'—of overthrow of Egyptians in the Red Sea), Hackett xlii 40 .

pn As epithet: Scál B., LL 1085. mac Aengusa Bailbh, AFM i 108.z.

(b) Of water, weather, etc. still, calm, silent: de brú Berbae balbae, Fél. Dec. 22. úa ríg Srúba Brain bailbe, Metr. Dinds. iii 282.73 . im rīgh Delbhna dar balbh sreabh, ZCP viii 224 § 33 . Cf. Magauran 1572 . síon bhalbh, KMMisc. 174 § 32 . Cf. Magauran 1421 . mar bhóchna bhailbh, DDána 93.10 .

Compds. With nouns: balbduine, IT iii 102 § 188. an balblasair / bhīas ōs an mbith, ZCP viii 207 § 40. ó bhalbhthuinn ag béin re tír the murmuring wave (?), Magauran 2642 . With adjj. a mhac . . . balbh-boghar deaf and dumb, ITS xvi 94.13 . ó Éirne . . . bhalbhghlain, DDána 70.9 . ón Bhóinn bhailbhrighin, Aithd. D. 34.14 . With adjj. derived from nouns: eo saorchuain bhailbhealtaigh Bhreagh haunted by twittering (?) bird-flocks, DDána 117.36 . i mBreaghmhuigh bhailbhéanaigh, Aithd. D. 4.3 .