Banshee Definition
banzhē
banshees
noun
banshees
A female spirit in Gaelic folklore believed to presage, by wailing, a death in a family.
American Heritage
A female spirit believed to wail outside a house as a warning that a death will occur soon in the family.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Other Word Forms of Banshee
Noun
Singular:
bansheePlural:
bansheesOrigin of Banshee
-
Irish Gaelic bean sídhe woman of the fairies, banshee bean woman (from Old Irish ben gwen- in Indo-European roots) sídhe fairy (from Old Irish síde) (genitive of síd fairy mound sed- in Indo-European roots)
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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From Irish bean sí, from Old Irish ben síde (“woman of the fairy mound”). The term banshee entered English in 1771.
From Wiktionary
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