pn f. name of a shield belonging to Conchobar mac Nessa; expld. as `the Groaner' (< ochan) by O'Curry, Manners and Customs ii 321 , but prob. a compd. of 3 ó and 1 cain (? caín) `beautiful'. ind Ochain, sciath Conchobair, cetheora benna oir fair, TBC-LL¹ 3580 = in nOchain Conchobair cona cethri óeib óir, TBC-LL¹ 5983 = an eochain, St., Add., H; cf. ib. 5985 , 6030 . ind Ochoin Chonchobair . . . cethri imle óir impe, Ériu iv 28.2 ( LL 107a2 ). is andsin ra tuairced inn Ócháin [sic leg.] scíath Conchobuir co ro gésestar, CRR 35.

n [f.] a sigh, groan or lamentation : pl. batar annsin oc maithrechaib . . . ochna aidbli chiamra toirsecha, LB 140b58 (`groans', Todd Lect. vi 81.10 ). ochna ré creich ngnáthferge, SG 251.24 . ro chuirsiot a n-ochána ┐ a n-osnadha ina diaidh, ZCP x 8 n. 8 . Perh. orig. same word as uchán `woe, alas'; but cf. ochen.

The follg. exx. of sing. may represent a different word: trí labra ata ferr túa: ochán [uchan, oconn v.l.] ríg do chath `inciting a king to battle', Triads 112. cora tinolad leis tuaiscert ṅHerenn et atnaig 'can achain ┐ roráid, etc., LL 305b49 (`began urging them', Stokes, RC xiii 96.2 ; `made his plaint to them', SG ii 419.3 ).

Cf. further: conid de atá Ochaín forsin telaig .i. och caíni .i. ind ochfad ┐ ind écaíni dodronsat fir Herend oc caini Neill and, LU 4097 (etymology of Ochan f., name of a hill in Co. Meath, see Hog. Onom. s.v. Ochann ); cf. Metr. Dinds. ii 38.37 . grodghair is ochán ag bárdaibh, Keat. Poems 473 , may be the same as the interj. uchán or ochón.