adj. and subst.
I As adj. o,ā. generally as pred., seldom used after a subst.
and never before one (being replaced by droch-); cf.
lochdach
maith no olc a ttús chomhfhocuil,
IGT Introd. § 97
(see
however olcairne). Compar.
mes(s)a; messu,
TBC-LL¹ 3489
,
SR
1349
,
LU 8081
,
Triads 91.
Superl. (a)
mesam,
Triads 223.
messum,
228
.
messam,
CCath. 4606.
(b) is mes(s)a.
Evil, bad, wrong
, in wide sense, physical and moral, of
quality, state or condition, olcc, gl. malus,
Sg. 42b10
.
Ir. Gl.
662
.
gním olc no maith,
Ml. 15a6
.
dān olc,
ACL iii 238 § 12.
sgél olc,
IGT Dec. § 178
(d
s. don sgeól olc or ulc). breath olc,
§ 179
.
ubhall olc an iomarbhais,
Dán Dé xxiv 20.
oirchin-
neach olc,
xxix 4
. pl.
námait ro-olca,
PH 2353.
As pred.: ropo olc a mblath they had a bad colour,
Mon. Tall. 52.
is o.¤ in cendaige it is a bad bargain,
PH 7467.
os o.¤
bó do ghoit if it is wrong to steal a cow,
7778
. intí is o.¤ dó
fadéin, cia aile dia mbad maith he? (= qui enim sibi malus),
5971
. olc dona sagartaib bad (wrong) for priests,
ZCP viii
209.24
. With defining gen.: a thruaigh as o.¤ iontaobha un-
worthy of trust,
Dán Dé xxii 31.
an t-aon-mac Gaoidhil as
lugha dob olc i n-Albain `by no means the least distinguished of
the Gaels',
AFM v 1662.20
, cf.
1682.16
.
Inauspicious, unlucky
:
bid olc ind adaig (= there will be trouble to-night),
FB 21.
ba holc lathe etha dó evil was the day they came for him,
IT i
98.1
. olc húar lod-sai in an ill hour you went,
IT iii 244.24
.
is o.¤ limm (frim) I deem ill (unfortunate), I dislike: cid o.¤ lam
naimtea though my enemies dislike it,
Ml. 2d12
.
bá holc leo . . .
Temair a bith cen rechtgi ríg furri,
SCC 21.
ba holc lais a dalta
dia fhacbail,
PH 2197.
an olc libh? art thou sorry?
A. Ó Dálaigh xxxvi 2
. mad o.¤ ra lucht na críchi in sét do thabairt,
TBC-LL¹ 94.
rob o.¤ ria C. in cath do chur,
RC xxiv 62 § 24.
ba
holc frisin imper a menma de sin,
PH 1027.
is o.¤ lim mo
menma iar marbad mo righ my heart is vexed,
Ériu ii 28.4
(see
1 menma). olcc occo-som máthair Néill they disliked N.'s
mother,
iv 92 § 6
.
Folld. by a vb., in adverbial sense: is o.¤ ataim cuca I am in
bad plight to meet them,
ZCP vi 65.20
. ris an anmain is o.¤
bhím `badly I treat my soul' (? I am in bad state as regards my
soul),
Dán Dé xxiii 7.
gidh o.¤ do dhligh déagsain dún though
[she] had little reason to have regard for me,
ii 10
.
o.¤ freagarthar
an robhadh,
xxv 11
.
As adv. in d
s.: nad n-acco(m)bra ind-ulcc (= non vult male),
Hib. Min. 13.432
.
compar. messa, folld. by dat. of object compared or by
conj.: creitmech as messa ancreitmech worse than an un-
believer,
Wb. 28b24
. trí gena ata messu brón worse than
sorrow,
Triads 91.
iss messa acach ar gach lo worse from day
to day,
IT i 121.23
.
os olc bó . . . do goit, is messa co mor
duine do goit,
PH 7778.
is messa in usaracht nā'n gadaigecht,
7573
. messa fria mbraithrea indate a nnamait worse to their
brethren than are their enemies,
Ml. 100c26
. ata ni is messu
de tra, | scarthain cuirp ocus anma there is something still
worse,
SR 1349.
do budh measa íad ná an chríaidh,
Job
xxx 8
. dá raibhe ní sa mheasa ioná . . . (= si quid deterius
est),
TSh. 8343.
Folld. by DO:
fodaimid nech as messa dúib
.i. seodoapostolos
,
Wb. 17b24
. `Bid olc in adaig', ol se. `Bid
messu duitsiu', ol C. it will be (a) worse (night) for you,
FB 87
(
LU 9114
). is messu duit na mbia de (= the result will be
worse for you),
TBC-LL¹ 3489.
cu mba mesa dúib oltás dam-sa,
PH 2043.
cid ferr cid messu dom nirt whether my strength is
better or worse,
LU 3862
(
SCC 38
). ni raibe nech ler bo mesa he
inā C. no one was more hostile to him than C.,
BNnÉ 168 § 2.
As adv.: is follus co nach mesa labras mo thenga-sa innossa
oltás in tan ro tescad hi that my tongue does not speak worse,
PH 799.
superl. cia mesam hi trebod? what is worst in a household?
Triads 223.
trí ata ferr i tig . . . trí ata messum i tig,
227
-
8
.
cia measom do cain tsaorraith? (.i. caidi inní is mesa),
Laws ii
194.2
,
5
.
measam bean banchánti,
ACL iii 230.154
. a dūil
is mesa dona hulib dúilib worst of all creatures,
PH 8281.
oen
is mesa ro gen do shil Adaim,
3079
. cia ben is mesa do mnáib?
worst of women,
ZCP viii 13.11
. sáeth ┐ galur ┐ cech aingcis
bad messo do duine worst for men,
iii 210 § 16
.
messam cach
main,
CCath. 4606
, is an archaism, the phrase being prob.
proverbial.
Folld. by DE the compar. mes(s)a (messu) de becomes
mes(s)aite, later meiste, miste, misde, a form which gradually
replaces mes(s)a to a great extent, the force of -de being of-
ten obscured or lost. conná léicther dún cid aithigud ar
n-iaronn . . . corup messu-de dun (= ut inde maiorem tribula-
tionem habeamus),
Lat. Lives 57.6
=
gurab mesaiti,
Trip.
218.19
.
uair na tarfaid duib ni d'ulcc, | is messaiti for n-
intliucht,
SR 1244.
fo-bíth na rucad gubreith, naptis messaiti
a thorthi that his crops might not be the worse thereof,
Ériu iv 24
§ 10
(
LL 106b8
). rafetammár in gilla . . . ┐ ní messaite fria fis
is dalta dún we know him none the worse (because) he is a foster-
ling of ours,
LU 4973
=
mesaide,
TBC-LL¹ 485.
eser ní re ndol
ar fecht . . . ní ba mesoitti t'imt[h]echt your journey will be
none the worse (for eating),
ZCP vii 269 § 15.
bá messaide a
menma lais a chluinsin `his mind was the worse for hearing it',
ACL i 8.5
. ni messaiti seom de sin . . . ni pat fer[r]dde siu,
ZCP iii 4 § 9
(where de is expletive =
nir bo measaiti seom
sein,
YBL 112a48
). meisde dun gurbh Ulltaibh ind the worse
for us that we are Ulstermen,
Irish Texts ii 108 § 34.
is misti
dontí leis a ragham i cenn catha,
CCath. 1673
(mesti, meste
v.l.). is iontuighthe nach miste don fhíréan olc ná anfhochain,
TSh. 10911.
nara mesti Dia frit-sa hí may God be none the
harder on thee for it (the curse),
LB 273a66
= narab mesdi,
CCellaig 184.
adubairt C.c. nar misde an cloc a beith
gan tengaidh that the bell was no worse for not having a clapper,
BCC 132.7
. a ndul ní mesti lem I do not object to their going,
CRR § 14.
ní meiste lium dol a clí,
ZCP vii 301 § 10.
nach
nderna se en-ní bud mesde les do denamh air fein anything that
he would not like to be done to himself,
BCC 262.27
. biodh an
comhairlech crionda . . . narab misdi let a bheith bocht do not
mind if he is poor,
Mac Aingil 199.10
. ní fedar gur misdi in
builli ugud do thabairt `that there was harm in blowing the
blast',
ZCP vi 73.6
.
ní fedar-sa gur misdi a marbad,
74.36
.
an misde urnaighthe do dheunamh ina bhfiadhnaise? Ni
misde is there anything wrong in praying before them (i.e.
relics),
Luc. Fid. 93.10
. ní misde go ndéinigh Dia breitheamh-
nus eadrainn (= may God judge betwixt us),
Eochairsg. 102.
21
. cár mhisde bean dom thréigean? what harm if a woman
forsakes me?
Dánta Gr. xiii 11
. gar misde dhuit airtegal
eigin dod chreidimh . . . do thaisbeuna what harm would it do
you to set forth (= it would be well for you to set forth),
Luc. Fid. 313.1
.
II As subst. o, m. a bad man, an evil doer
, nearly always in
pl. uilc, gl. errantes,
Wb. 30c26
.
6a9
.
do dechrugud etir
maithi ┐ ulcu,
Ml. 19d2
. acht ní ro fúit[er] oilcc dia guin
provided evil men are not sent,
Laws iv 336.3
. Men of base
degree, the rabble (distinguished from maithi `optimates'):
is
cuma no airctís na mathi ima n-indmus ┐ na hulcu ima
mbiad,
LB 154b16
.
go ndeachadur a mbáthadh mórán dá
mathaibh ┐ da n-olcuibh,
Gadelica i 130.682
(Pairl. Chl.
Tom.).
III As subst. o, n. (later m.)
evil, wrong; an evil, misfortune
,
in wide sense. In glosses the uninflected form of n
p. is used
after the art. a n-olc the evil,
Ml. 33d2
, cf.
Wb. 1c10
.
ar ind
ulc fodaim nech,
Ml. 99b1
. cid na olc mbec, gl. ne quid parvum
malum,
35d9
. olcc tarési n-uilcc (malum pro malo),
Wb. 5d28
.
dechair eter olcc is maith,
SR 1255.
tan is d'oencraunn maid
[= maith] is uilc,
1247
(form due to rhyme).
fiss uilcc ┐
maithiusa,
MacCarthy 52.20
(
LB 110b59
). olc do rada rim,
TBC-LL¹ 3751.
olc duit-siu ill befall thee! (?),
SCC 29
(
LU 3535
).
nephdenum neich di ulc fri nnech dogní olc frit not to do aught
of evil to any one who does thee evil,
Ml. 23c20
. is coir t'olc do
denam to do thee harm,
TTebe 4263
, cf.
2158
. atu im ulc,
nimfuil im maith I am in evil plight,
TBC-LL¹ 2325
= i n-ulc . . .
i maith, St. fada bias Éiri 'na hulc | iar ndith do Colman,
ZCP x 52.21
. Goill is Gaoidhil i n-ulc de (will be) the worse for
it,
Cog. 204.22
. ro feallais orum ┐ tiucfa a olc aniugh duid
the evil consequences of it,
ZCP vi 41.17
. pl. inna olc-sa, gl.
haec mala,
Sg. 217a8
. dubartis inna olc forum-sa (adversa),
Ml. 89a2
. nícon rabatar olca betis mou (ultimis malis),
100c11
.
digail for S. inna n-olc dorigeni side fris,
55d4
.
beti uilc
immda ┐ imnedai móra isin ló sin,
FA 34
(LB). boi C. for
dibeirg ┐ dognidh ulcu caich used to wreak injuries on all,
ACL iii 225.14
. i n-oirchill na n-olc bhíos ré tuirling orra,
TSh. 532.
An ill deed, wrongdoing
:
is suaill int olc dorígnis
┐ is sochaide doróine ulcu bud móu indatt,
PH 6473.
ra
ḟaismis ḟair na huli ulcu ┐ écora doriṅgni,
TBC-LL¹ 2778
= olca,
St. ar n-uilc . . . admum do Dia our sins,
ACL iii 235 § 32.
a uilc i gcionn gach chiontaigh,
Dán Dé vii 15.
na filid nā
fitir so . . . cindas fhailgit a n-ulcu? how can they hide their
faults?
Auraic. 2008.
ar ulc fri (in order) to spite (injure): ar ulc friu, gl. nocendi
[affectione],
Ml. 72b22
.
ar ulcc fri fraicc ind niad,
Hy. v 71.
ar ulc fri doíni,
Fél. Ep. 422.
ro fhaccaib Columcille Ére ar
ulc re feraibh Erenn to vex,
Anecd. iii 1.8
. as ar ulc fri mac M.
doronsat an fheall sin `it was to annoy',
AFM iii 852.10
. In pl. ar olca(ib)/ulca(ib):
do
crech Laigniu Fergal . . . ar ulcuib fri Cathal,
RC xxiv 44 § 1
(ar ulc ri C. v.l.). Cf. dar ulcaib [ar ulc v.l.] ria `in order to
cause her ills',
TTebe 761
. do milleadh Connacht ar ulca fri Ruaidhri 'to annoy R.'
AFM iii 34.13
. ar ulca la hua nD. 'to spite O'D.'
vi 2236.18
.
ar ulca re Maedocc,
BNnÉ i 208.15
.
dar ulcaib (ar ulc, v.l.) ria,
TTebe 761
.
ré ulca re Cairpri,
BCC 132.28
.
re olca re Thuathaibh D.D.,
Feis Tighe Chonáin 1638
. cá (gá) d'ulc (in later
poetry, alliterating with d, the prep. and noun being treated
as one word): a soithlighe gá d'ulc dhamh? `what harm could
their wickedness do me?'
Dán Dé xxi 30
=
cad dulc
,
YBL
401a7
. ag Rudhraighe ga dulc dhó? `how does it hurt R.?'
Studies 1919, 258 § 21
.